Partnership Helps Military Medical Staff Provide Comprehensive Care to this High-risk Population
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In many cases, the lifestyle of a soldier stationed far from home can lead to a heightened risk of contracting HIV. In Zambia, members of the military are often stationed in isolated locations with little or no opportunity for entertainment and recreation. Stress and boredom—coupled with the low cost of alcohol—can easily result in soldiers making poor decisions that increase the likelihood that they will become infected with the virus that causes AIDS. As these members of the military become victims of the virus, they also become vectors for its spread.
With HIV-infections estimated to be well in excess of the national rate of 16.5 percent of the adult population, the Zambian Defense Force (ZDF) is in a state of crisis that has a direct impact on the country’s national security. The Defense Force Medical Services is trying to keep pace with the escalating requirements of providing even basic HIV/AIDS-related care to military personnel living with HIV/AIDS, while at the same time offering prevention services, voluntary counseling and testing, and other forms of treatment and support.
 ZDF nurses traveled to San Diego to learn about palliative care. —Captain Denise M. Boren. (Photo: Courtesy of Denise M. Boren) |
Building on an existing collaboration between Zambia and the US Department of Defense, the HIV/AIDS Twinning Center is supporting a partnership linking ZDF and the Maina Soko Military Hospital in Lusaka with the Naval Medical Center San Diego, California. With funding from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, this partnership is working to build the human resource and institutional capacity necessary to implement targeted education and prevention programs, effectively diagnose HIV and related opportunistic infections, manage the treatment of HIV-infected personnel, and provide palliative care to those who have AIDS.
Because the use of antiretroviral medications (ARVs) and the provision of palliative care are both relatively new concepts in Zambia, clinical training and mentoring play a critical role in the twinning partnership’s activities. During professional exchanges to the United States, the Zambian partners are introduced to a wide range of programs that have proven effective at the Naval Medical Center and community-based service provider organizations in the San Diego area. Seeing these programs in action and having the opportunity to enter into an open dialogue with their peers—as well as the patients receiving care—is an invaluable learning experience for the physicians, nurses, and allied health professionals participating in the partnership.
In an effort to bring information and services to remote locations where soldiers are stationed, the partners are collaborating with the San Diego Health and Human Services Agency to develop a mobile medical unit that will provide education and outreach along with prevention and voluntary counseling and testing services. This mobile care unit will make these programs more accessible and convenient for the people who need them most.
Another important goal of the partnership is improving access to the latest evidence-based research and other clinical resources for staff at Maina Soko Hospital. Through the Twinning Center program, a Learning Resource Center is being created and outfitted with computers, Internet connectivity, medical journals and textbooks, CD-ROMS, and other information and communications technology that will link the Zambian partners not only to a wealth of up-to-date information, but also to other clinicians around the globe who are working to provide care to people living with HIV/AIDS.
“ZDF nurses responsible for setting up a palliative care program in Zambia spent two weeks in San Diego learning about end-of-life care, infection control, and alternative therapies for pain and symptom control such as guided imagery and healing touch." —Captain Denise M. Boren, Head, Nursing Research and Analysis Department, Naval Medical Center San Diego
“By sharing our successful experience with mobile VCT units in San Diego, we can help our Zambian partners save time and money. It is a win-win situation that will have a measurable impact on people’s lives and I’m pleased to be a part of this innovative form of US foreign assistance.” —Terry L. Cunningham, Chief of the HIV, STD and Hepatitis Branch of Public Health Services, San Diego, California
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