Daughters of Charity Realize Dream - Tackling HIV & AIDS in Africa

November 04, 2010 - 6:53 PDT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA ADVISORY

SOUTHFIELD, MICHIGAN (November 4, 2010) - The international Company of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul (Paris), with its 377-year history of service to those who are poor, continues its partnership with the lay Catholic organization, the Community of Sant'Egidio (Rome) - in educating, counseling and testing thousands in sub-Saharan Africa for HIV, and providing a free state-of-the-art holistic AIDS treatment and prevention program called DREAM, which stands for drug resource enhancement against AIDS and malnutrition. The Daughters run DREAM Centers in Mozambique (2003), Nigeria (2007), Cameroon (2008), Kenya (2008), Democratic Republic of Congo (2009), and Tanzania (2010).

Comprehensive, cost-efficient and sustainable, DREAM is a proven effective scale up of access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) in sub-Saharan Africa. While caring for the entire family, DREAM has a priority focus on preventing the transmission of HIV/AIDS from pregnant women to their newborn children. It is treatment as prevention. DREAM's commitment to reach those people living in poverty in sub-Saharan Africa directly aligns with the December 1, 2010 World AIDS day theme: 'Universal Access and Human Rights'.

At a 2010 high-level Summit meeting in Africa, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé cited prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) in Africa as critical to reducing child mortality and improving maternal health, and said, "mother-to-child transmission of HIV has been virtually eliminated in the global North. It is unacceptable that so many babies continue to be born with HIV in Africa." DREAM outcomes demonstrate a significant decrease in transmission rates from HIV-positive mothers that were as high as 30% to less than 2% of the babies acquiring HIV, by adherence to PMTCT protocols for pregnant and breastfeeding women. Investing 500 euros can deliver a healthy baby from an HIV-positive mother.

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The Daughters of Charity are DREAM's largest field partner, and operate within the framework of each country's national health system. DREAM relies on local partners for effective and efficient delivery of the integrated program and protocols including education, prevention, ARV treatment, nutritional therapy, capacity-building and training, and advocacy for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), at an average annual cost of about 600 euros per patient. Services are offered free of charge.

The Daughters' DREAM Centers are engaged in cross-country best practices sharing via computer linkages between all 31 DREAM locations in 10 sub-Saharan African countries and medical facilities in Europe affiliated with Sant'Egidio. Lessons learned and implementation tools are quickly disseminated across Centers. Training and consultation is accessible with leading scientists and top medical specialists. Since inception in 2002, the entire DREAM program has reached over 1 million people with its affiliated components.

DAUGHTERS OF CHARITY DREAM LOCATIONS
The Cameroon DREAM Center was built adjacent to the Daughters' St. Vincent de Paul Hospital in Dschang, with its history of meeting healthcare needs of the local people since 1986. In Cameroon, where the generalized HIV prevalence is around 5.1%, DREAM has tested well over 7000 patients with about 370 clients receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) and 537 in follow up. The program reports a 99.64% adherence rate.

The Daughters prevailed over major construction obstacles to establish their DREAM Center in Mbandaka, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2009. Situated near the confluence of the Congo and Ruki Rivers, it is one of the most remote AIDS Centers of its caliber. All building materials and high-tech equipment had to navigate a lengthy transport by boat. HIV prevalence in DRC averages about 4.6%, however, in this area it is reported closer to 10%. At the DREAM Center in Mbandaka, 250 patients received ART in the first 10 months alone. Since there were very limited prior HIV/AIDS interventions, the area currently has a large existing population of AIDS orphans who also benefit from DREAM services, including nutritional support.

Nutritional supplementation is an integral DREAM program component that contributes to its treatment success. At the DREAM Center in Nairobi, Kenya, the sisters built a food storage and distribution area and constructed a kitchen to enable regular nutritional supplementation. They also cultivate a three-acre DREAM farm on nearby land. According to a 2008 UNAIDS report, HIV prevalence in Kenya is 4.9%.

The Daughter's longest-operating DREAM program at Carmelo Hospital in Mozambique is in the district of Chokwe, which has one of the highest seropositive rates in the country. Here, prevalence estimates are as high as 30%, compared to Mozambique's general prevalence of 12.5%. Over 70% of Mozambique's DREAM patients are on Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART). Among the Daughters' DREAM Centers, Chokwe has the largest number of volunteer DREAM Activists. As HIV-positive DREAM patients themselves, the Activists (largely comprised of women) are vital advocates who assist in the program's services and are a beacon of hope for newly-diagnosed patients and their families.

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Nigeria's DREAM program in Abuja, the first of its kind in the area to offer services free of charge, also includes an HIV/AIDS outreach program that targets youth who would otherwise be uneducated regarding prevention and treatment.

The Daughters opened their sixth DREAM Center, located in Masanga, Tanzania in 2010. It will greatly enhance their existing antenatal program to address the mother-child pair.

Founded by St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac in 1633 in Paris, France, the Daughters of Charity are united in collaboration and empowerment of people who are among the most poor, marginalized, and vulnerable around the world. The Daughters of Charity is the largest community of consecrated women recognized in the Catholic Church, as a Society of Apostolic Life. Today, nearly 19,000 women strong, the sisters live and work in 92 countries; about three-quarters are impoverished countries.

"The charity of Jesus Christ crucified which animates and sets afire the heart of the Daughters of Charity, urges her to hasten to the relief of every type of human misery" - Daughters of Charity Constitutions. With solidarity of purpose, the sisters serve those struggling in adversity, including addressing basic needs of food, water and sanitation; and initiating and improving health care services and education. Their work is holistic development toward community sustainability. In countries riddled with disease, malnutrition, conflict and oppression, the Daughters' programs promote social justice and ignite solutions through projects like community wells, social centers, schools, skills training, and clinics and hospitals, including those in sub-Saharan Africa dedicated to tackling HIV/AIDS.

For more information about the Daughters of Charity DREAM program addressing HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, please contact:
Daughters of Charity International Project Services
Southfield, MI 48075 USA
Therese McFarland - 249-849-4918 tmcfarla@doc-ecp.org

Contact

http://www.daughtersips.org
MI, 48075 US
Therese McFarland - ,

Keywords

Daughters of Charity, HIV/AIDS, sub-Saharan Africa, World AIDS Day, healthcare, international

Category

Catholic Organizations

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