BIPAI hosting first-ever Libyan national HIV/AIDS conference

HOUSTON – (Mar. 17, 2010) – The Baylor College of Medicine International Pediatric AIDS Initiative (www.bayloraids.org) began hosting the first-ever Libyan HIV/AIDS conference March 15 in Benghazi to provide education on the best clinical and operational practices for care and treatment among BIPAI Network Children’s Clinical Centers of Excellence. 

 

The meeting, ending March 19, is being held in conjunction with BIPAI’s 12th annual network meeting and includes delegates from BIPAI centers in Libya, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania, Romania and Houston, as well as BIPAI project clinicians from Ethiopia and Mozambique. 

 

These centers provide HIV/AIDS care and treatment to more than 58,000 HIV-infected children and their family members.   

 

Other participants include BIPAI’s network executive directors and vice presidents, Pediatrics AIDS Corps physicians, African and Romanian clinicians and Libyan VIPs including Ministers of Health from Libya and Jordon, representatives of the Secretariat of Health and Environment, United Nations Development Program and the Benghazi Center of Infectious Diseases and Immunity. 

 

“This groundbreaking HIV/AIDS meeting in Libya has become a reality after years of discussion and over a year of planning and hard work,“ said Michael Mizwa, chief operating officer and senior vice president of BIPAI. “What were perceived as insurmountable barriers were ultimately addressed and overcome. We hope this conference will translate into future meetings throughout the region to address HIV/AIDS.” 

 

“We are always seeking evidence-based approaches to help men, women and children infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS around us. We hope to acknowledge the achievements of major contributors to the field and to discuss some of the wider issues in connection with the HIV/AIDS pandemic,” said Dr. Osama Alwjewi, director of the Benghazi Center of Infectious Diseases and Immunity. “We also hope to evaluate progress to date and to identify what must be done next, both individually and collectively, to achieve this critical goal. With many participants and media in attendance, the eyes of the world will be on Benghazi, Libya.”

 

Nancy Calles, BIPAI senior vice president – international program development, said that BIPAI physicians and staff and their Libyan colleagues have been looking forward to the network meeting since they first met to discuss the care and treatment of the HIV-infected Libyan children in Benghazi in 2006.

 

“We are thankful to our hosts – the Waatasemu Charity Association, the Libyan Secretariat of Health and Environment and the Benghazi Center of Infectious Diseases and Immunity – who honored us by inviting us to be the first group to a meeting in the training center of the newly-opened, 1,200 bed Benghazi Medical Center. It has been a week of many firsts and a week that we will not soon forget,” Calles said.

 

In 2004, BIPAI representatives, including founder Dr. Mark Kline and Calles, were invited to Benghazi by the governments of Libya and the United States to evaluate the status of pediatric HIV/AIDS care and treatment and to explore opportunities for cooperation and collaboration at the Benghazi Center of Infectious Diseases and Immunity. 

 

At that time, the Benghazi Center was providing care and treatment to approximately 381 HIV-infected children, the largest concentration of HIV-infected children in the Middle East.  

 

The Benghazi Center was invited to join the BIPAI Children’s Clinical Centers of Excellence Network and have continued to partner with BIPAI in physician exchanges, health professional training and capacity enhancement initiatives in pediatric HIV/AIDS care and treatment. In 2005, the United States State Department provided funding to Baylor College of Medicine to assist in health systems strengthening for the Benghazi Center.