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The PIH Guide to the Community-Based Treatment of HIV in Resource-Poor
Settings (Second Edition)
Partners In Health has published an updated and expanded second edition
of The PIH Guide to the Community-Based Treatment of HIV in Resource-Poor
Settings. Drawing on PIH's experience since 1998 treating HIV patients
in rural Haiti, the guide includes clinical protocols and guidelines for
managing HIV-positive patients, as well as information about how to initiate
a comprehensive HIV prevention and treatment program.
The contents and use of the Guide are summarized in a Foreword written
for the second edition by Dr. John G. Bartlett, chief of the Division of
Infectious Disease and Director of the AIDS Service at Johns Hopkins
School of Medicine:
"An estimated 90 percent of the 40 million people living with HIV
infection live in countries that possess less than 10 percent of the world's
assets. The PIH Guide to the Community-Based Treatment of HIV in Resource-Poor
Settings is a comprehensive text for HIV care delivery in these very
areas.
"This is a really good book. The authors have considerable experience
with both AIDS treatment and the delivery of general health care in resource-limited
settings—and their experience shows. The guide covers the totality
of HIV care, including voluntary counseling and testing (VCT); HIV prevention;
antiretroviral therapy (ART); and diagnosis and treatment of opportunistic
and other related infections, with particular emphasis on tuberculosis
(TB) co-infection and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
Information is presented in a practical fashion, making it useful in diverse
settings. Thus, recommendations for initiating and changing HIV therapy
are made for settings ranging from those in which laboratory testing is
limited to places where a total lymphocyte count can be obtained, to those
with access to viral load analysis. A section on data management is also
included. The guidelines for HIV treatment are – appropriately --
based largely on World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines; recommendations
for treating opportunistic infections (OIs) and other complications of
HIV infection make use of drugs and diagnostics available in those areas
of the world where the guide is intended for use.
"The format used is textual; a substantial list of references is provided
with each chapter to support recommendations. Most importantly, many algorithms
(protocols) that care providers will find extremely useful have also been
included. I found these algorithms to be logical, easy to follow, and reflective
of best practices.
"This book is largely based on the authors' experience in Haiti; however,
the challenges they faced and the lessons they learned can easily be extrapolated
to similar settings. Obviously, set- tings exist where local practices
and disease patterns will require different approaches. Nevertheless, most
of this guide is likely to be an important companion for the care providers
of persons with HIV/AIDS who live in resource-poor settings."
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Download the full manual
(1.5 MB, PDF)
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