Press Release Details
Yale-China Partners with YSN, CSU for HIV/AIDS Study
August 27, 2009
The Yale-China Association is pleased to announce its role in a groundbreaking HIV/AIDS study that is being supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). The grant, which was announced in August 2009, is aimed at identifying ways to help patients take HIV/AIDS medications correctly. Led by Professor Ann Williams of the Yale School of Nursing and Professor Honghong Wang of the Central South University School of Nursing in Changsha, Hunan province, other partners in the grant include the Yale-China Association and the Hunan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Since HIV first was identified in China in 1989 in Yunnan province, the AIDS epidemic has spread rapidly and widely throughout China. Currently, an estimated 700,000 people are living with HIV in China. In response to the growing number of new infections, the Chinese government launched the China CARES program to provide free HIV/AIDS medications for those in need. However, if patients fail to take their medications correctly, the virus may develop resistance to the medications, making them ineffective in the future and for other patients who are infected by the drug resistant virus.
The aim of this study is to contribute to the successful treatment of HIV around the world by developing an intervention to improve the medication adherence of Chinese AIDS patients. The project builds on a long-term collaboration in HIV/AIDS treatment and care between the Yale China Association and partners in Changsha, Hunan province.
The Yale-China Association’s collaborations with Chinese and U.S. partners on HIV/AIDS prevention and care began over 12 years ago, before HIV/AIDS was recognized as a problem in China. Since then, Yale-China’s work has included the development of a model curriculum for nurses, which has trained more than 30,000 nurses and continues to be distributed nationally through the National Nursing Center of China (NNCC); development of a hospital infection control manual, which has been distributed nationally through the NNCC; numerous clinical and research training exchanges; collaboration with the Hunan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention on program development; and projects describing the impact of HIV in Hunan, including mental health effects, prevention strategies for college students, coping skills for people living with HIV, prevention of occupational exposure to HIV, the first academic conference and English language publication on AIDS in China, descriptions of the stigma associated with HIV, and the development of interventions to improve the clinical care and quality of life for people living with HIV in China and, specifically, in Hunan province. Yale-China’s most recent work focuses on improving the ability of patients to adhere to difficult antiretroviral medication regimens and on improving the ability of colleagues to effectively screen for ophthalmologic complications of HIV.
Work in this area has also allowed for synergies with a number of Yale-China Health Programs including the Chia Fellowship Program and the Yale-China Academic Nursing Leadership Program.
Since HIV first was identified in China in 1989 in Yunnan province, the AIDS epidemic has spread rapidly and widely throughout China. Currently, an estimated 700,000 people are living with HIV in China. In response to the growing number of new infections, the Chinese government launched the China CARES program to provide free HIV/AIDS medications for those in need. However, if patients fail to take their medications correctly, the virus may develop resistance to the medications, making them ineffective in the future and for other patients who are infected by the drug resistant virus.
The aim of this study is to contribute to the successful treatment of HIV around the world by developing an intervention to improve the medication adherence of Chinese AIDS patients. The project builds on a long-term collaboration in HIV/AIDS treatment and care between the Yale China Association and partners in Changsha, Hunan province.
The Yale-China Association’s collaborations with Chinese and U.S. partners on HIV/AIDS prevention and care began over 12 years ago, before HIV/AIDS was recognized as a problem in China. Since then, Yale-China’s work has included the development of a model curriculum for nurses, which has trained more than 30,000 nurses and continues to be distributed nationally through the National Nursing Center of China (NNCC); development of a hospital infection control manual, which has been distributed nationally through the NNCC; numerous clinical and research training exchanges; collaboration with the Hunan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention on program development; and projects describing the impact of HIV in Hunan, including mental health effects, prevention strategies for college students, coping skills for people living with HIV, prevention of occupational exposure to HIV, the first academic conference and English language publication on AIDS in China, descriptions of the stigma associated with HIV, and the development of interventions to improve the clinical care and quality of life for people living with HIV in China and, specifically, in Hunan province. Yale-China’s most recent work focuses on improving the ability of patients to adhere to difficult antiretroviral medication regimens and on improving the ability of colleagues to effectively screen for ophthalmologic complications of HIV.
Work in this area has also allowed for synergies with a number of Yale-China Health Programs including the Chia Fellowship Program and the Yale-China Academic Nursing Leadership Program.
