Health Policy Project

The Health Policy Project has ended, but work continues under a new USAID five-year project, Health Policy Plus (HP+).

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Building Leadership in the HIV Response in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean
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Author(s): Margaret Reeves

Primary Language: English

Date: 2/11/2014

Abstract:

To successfully lead a strategic, effective and sustainable response to AIDS, individuals must be equipped with a diverse set of skills. However, many individuals rise to leadership positions with purely medical backgrounds and lack essential skills in management, finance, advocacy and policy, and governance. For over a decade the National Institute of Public Health (Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública – INSP), part of the National Health Institutes of the Health Ministry in Mexico, has designed and conducted training courses to augment HIV leaders’ skills in these critical areas and to strengthen the regional AIDS response, particularly in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.

The USAID-funded Health Policy Project commissioned a case study of INSP’s educational programs to better understand what elements are critical for such programs to be successful, what challenges they face, and to identify opportunities to strengthen and expand regional capacity-building efforts in the future.

The results indicated that the students surveyed felt INSP’s multidisciplinary training approach for leaders in the region’s HIV and AIDS response fostered a more harmonized response to the epidemic. Further, the lessons and tools learned through INSP modules and courses become a principal resource for former students who go on to play strategic roles in national and state AIDS programs, as well as civil society. INSP course alumni feel better equipped to make decisions based on available evidence, to design and implement strategic prevention and care strategies, and to contribute to policy development. However, challenges remain and to sustain and expand, the INSP and other training initiatives must find ways to reduce course costs and required time commitments without sacrificing the quality and comprehensiveness that has made them so effective.

Opportunities for continued education and virtual support through networking will also provide critical ongoing support. To maximize impact, curricula should take into account the unique economic, political, social, and cultural characteristics of individual countries; differences in infrastructure and human resources; and the diverse ways the AIDS epidemic manifests across the region. Those interviewed indicated that comprehensive training programs such as those developed by INSP play an essential role in equipping national and regional leaders to improve and expand HIV and AIDS services. The INSP programs fill a critical gap in human resource training and efforts should be made to mobilize the resources and support needed to expand and duplicate these kinds of training opportunities.


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Best Practices    Brief    Capacity Development    HIV    Leadership    Caribbean Region   Global   LAC  
 
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The Health Policy Project is a five-year cooperative agreement funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development under Agreement No. AID-OAA-A-10-00067, beginning September 30, 2010. The project's HIV-related activities are supported by the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). It is implemented by Futures Group, in collaboration with Plan International USA, Avenir Health (previously Futures Institute), Partners in Population and Development, Africa Regional Office (PPD ARO), Population Reference Bureau (PRB), RTI International, and White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood (WRA). The information provided on this Web site is not official U.S. Government information and does not represent the views or positions of the U.S. Agency for International Development or the U.S. Government.

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