The eHIV-STI programme is now supporting vital work on sexual health in Zimbabwe.
Healthcare professionals at the Newlands Clinic in Harare are using eHIV-STI to enhance their diagnosis and management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in patients with HIV.
The clinic, which provides a wide range of sexual and reproductive healthcare services to low-income and marginalised communities in and around Harare, currently treats more than 6000 patients. The Newlands Clinic’s goal is to combat HIV/Aids over the long term, and it seeks to achieve this by caring for HIV patients, training healthcare professionals and engaging in research. The team is highly experienced in treating HIV, but they recently identified a need for greater education in the diagnosis and management of STIs in the HIV context.
Dr Margie Pascoe, Clinician at the Newlands Clinic, said: “There is clear evidence that HIV transmission is facilitated by the presence of sexually transmitted infections and yet, in resource-constrained settings such as Zimbabwe, the capacity to diagnose and treat STIs is extremely limited.
“eHIV-STI provides a high-quality learning resource, developed in the UK, that our practitioners can use to enhance their skills.
“We trust that the upskilling of our clinicians will result in earlier diagnosis and appropriate treatment for patients with STIs and, in a small way, contribute to the reduction of STIs to sexual partners and onward transmission of HIV infection.”
Dr John Evans-Jones, Clinical Lead for eHIV-STI, said: “We are delighted to make this e-learning available to the Newlands Clinic, where it will support essential work to improve the diagnosis of STIs.
“This collaboration highlights the value of our quality-assured e-learning in resource-constrained settings where opportunities for face-to-face learning may be very limited. We hope this will be the start of a long and fruitful partnership with the clinic.”
For further information about eHIV-STI, please see our programme page.
You can find further information about the Newlands Clinic, run by the Ruedi Luethy Foundation, on their website.
