"HIV Care and Prevention in Uganda: The View Between Here and There" is the topic of September's Hartford HIV Forum. Kevin Dieckhaus, M.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine and HIV/AIDS Coordinator at the University of Connecticut Health Center, will give a first-hand account of his experience in Kampala, Uganda where he trained African physicians in western HIV management. He will be speaking on Tuesday, September 9 at noon at the Living Center, 1841 Broad Street. The event is free; lunch will be provided and advance registration is required.

Through the Academic Alliance for AIDS Care and Prevention in Africa and the Infectious Diseases Society of America, Dieckhaus and other North American physicians spent a month instructing a dozen East African doctors in the treatment and prevention of AIDS and the application of this knowledge in limited-resource settings. The comprehensive curriculum focused on clinical management including the treatment of opportunistic infections and use of antiviral drugs, epidemiology, research methodologies and palliative care.

"One can easily become overwhelmed by the mind-boggling statistics of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa where 30 million people are infected with the HIV virus and fourteen thousand new infections occur daily," said Dieckhaus. "However, some progress is being made, particularly in Uganda where the prevalence of HIV has declined through aggressive preventative programs.

In some respects, Uganda is the model for the rest of Africa," he said. "Funding for treatment programs is slowly filtering into sub-Saharan Africa. Through education and training, our goal is to enable physicians there to use these limited resources effectively and for us to do what we can to address the global inequities of health care."

This is the first lecture in the Fall 2003 series of forums organized by The Institute for Community Research and the Connecticut AIDS Education and Training Center. The Hartford HIV Forum meets from 12:00 noon to 1:30 p.m., on the second Tuesday of each month. The goal of the forums is to give the local community the most up-to-date information on current topics in AIDS prevention, treatment, research and care. To register for the forum, call the The Institute for Community Research at 860-278-2044. Signing for the hearing impaired and Spanish interpretation are available with a minimum of ten days advance notice. For more information about the series, contact Peg Weeks at The Institute for Community Research at 860-278-2044 x229.