HHS Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Launches Public Health Grand Rounds Webcast on Innovative Basic Care Package Provided in Uganda by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief

September 18, 2007 – On September 27, 2007, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will host a Public Health Grand Rounds webcast to spotlight the accomplishments of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, in collaboration with the Ugandan Ministry of Health, The AIDS Support Organization (TASO), and Population Services International (PSI)/Uganda, in providing a basic care package for families and communities in rural Uganda. To date, the Emergency Plan has distributed more than 120,000 basic care packages throughout Uganda to HIV-positive people and their families. The package includes the following:

• Two insecticide-treated mosquito nets;
• A water vessel, filter cloth, and bleach solution to disinfect water;
• Information on how to obtain HIV family counseling, confidential HIV testing, and cotrimoxazole (an antibiotic that reduces opportunistic infections among HIV-positive persons);
• Educational materials on how to use the components in the package; and
• Condoms (and information on how to use them correctly and consistently) when requested by the distribution site.

The Grand Rounds will explore the lessons learned by the developers of the basic care package about the usefulness of combining interventions to prevent multiple diseases; the importance of applying research and evidence-based interventions; designing sustainable interventions; and getting buy-in at the national and local levels to increase long-term health impact.

Scheduled for 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time, the broadcast will feature the following speakers:

• Stephen B. Blount, M.D., Director, Coordinating Office for Global Health, HHS/CDC;
• James Curran, M.D., Dean, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University;
• Deborah Birx, M.D., Director, HHS/CDC Global AIDS Program (GAP); and
• Tadesse Wuhib, M.D., former Country Director for HHS/CDC in Ethiopia.

For more information:

View "Public Health is Global Health: An Innovative Approach to Fighting Disease in Uganda" webcast (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Last revised: October 31, 2007