Global HIV/AIDS Week of Action Healthcare Worker Action Guide Table of Contents:
Letter of Introduction Phone Zap/Fax Blast Information Sample Phone Zap Script Senate contacts by state Sample Letter to local Decision-maker How to Plan a Rally Sample Action: Empty White Coats Other Sample Actions Tips for Working with the Press Sample Press Advisory Sample Press Release Bird-dogging 101 Health Worker Fact Sheet African Health Capacity Investment Act Fact Sheet Sample Rally Signs Sample White Coat Stencil 2 4 5 6 8 9 10 11 13 15 16 17 19 21 22 24
To the advocates for Healthcare Workers: During the 2007 Global HIV/AIDS Week of Action, we have the opportunity to educate a new group of legislators on global and domestic AIDS and the severity of the lack of healthcare workers problem. This is an exciting opportunity, but it also means that we, as activists, have a huge responsibility. Bipartisanship is more important in Congress than any time in the last few years, and we must make sure that both Democrats and Republicans are not only aware, but taking action, to fight AIDS at home and around the world. AIDS continues to be a political crisis. In the Global HIV/AIDS Week of Action, we have the opportunity to demand that elected officials keep their promises to achieve abundant numbers of healthcare workers in Africa and to increase the number of health professional graduates in the U.S to ensure our self-sufficiency. This is essential in order for us to end the AIDS crisis domestically and abroad. Awareness regarding the health workforce crisis, especially brain drain, is crucial in order to take further measures to address the problem. Students, having a particularly strong voice, can be educated about the issue by arranging panels in the community or on school/university campuses to present and discuss the ―Brain Drain: Africa’s Health Workforce Crisis‖ power point presentation. Additionally, we are encouraging people to go directly to their elected leaders in a variety of ways and demand that they take action on: - $8 billion over 5 years in new money to fund the training and retention of the African healthcare workers that will be needed to reach Universal Access by 2010. Of these funds, $650 million must be contributed in year 1 scaling up over the subsequent years. - Initiation of an extensive healthcare initiative that trains, compensates, and deploys health care workers to attain a 1/1000 health care worker to patient ratio. It must also support 1 health professional per 6 community healthcare workers and integration into overall primary system. - Reduction of brain drain by taking active measures including increasing the number of health professional graduates in the U.S. – increase medical school graduates by 5,000 and nursing graduates by 25,000 over the next 10-15 years, decreasing recruitment from under-developed countries, and working with foreign countries and organizations in order to develop policies regarding relocation and recruitment so that both the source and the end countries are reciprocally benefited. - Full coverage of the public health systems/human resource costs of executing PEPFAR and other U.S. initiatives. - Full funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria-at least $766 million this year from the U.S. There are various levels of action you and your organization can take to target your local decision makers about the above demands: - Mailing and fax-blasting letters to your legislators - Coordinating a large call-in to your legislators - Getting Op-Eds and Letters to the Editor printed in your local media - Organizing a rally outside the office of your legislators to deliver the demands in front of press - Meet with your legislators or their staff to discuss the demands
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During the Global HIV/AIDS Week of Action, we encourage you to take on any and all of these types of actions, depending on your group’s capacity. We are envisioning a wide array of groups across the country engaging with their decision-makers in these ways, in order to get our message of the need to address the Healthcare Worker crisis to as many politicians, media outlets, and people as possible! We also hope you can participate in our national call-in on February 26, 2007 to demand $8 billion over 5 years for healthcare workers in Africa. Finally, we know that working with the media can be intimidating, but it is essential that we engage the press in our work, so our voices can be amplified even more. For this reason, we are organizing training on making event pitch calls to the press during the week of February 19th. More information and call-in number coming soon. You will then join a conference call to learn the skills necessary for working effectively with the press. In this kit are: - Sample letter and call script with phone zap description - Rally idea descriptions and tips on how to set up a successful rally - Sample press materials and tips on getting good press coverage - Bird-dogging idea descriptions and tips on how to generate good questions and evoke leaders’ responses - Fact sheets and supporting documents on the various issues - Sample rally signs and stencils Please join us this Global HIV/AIDS Week of Action in taking action, and calling on our elected leaders to do everything they can to fight AIDS around the world by particularly tackling the Healthcare Worker crisis. If you are interested in taking part in actions which go directly to decision-makers and demand that they work to address the Healthcare Worker crisis, for more information or for help planning your successful Global HIV/AIDS Week of Action event, including help with choosing an appropriate target, email gaf@amsa.org. In Solidarity, American Medical Student Association Physicians for Human Rights Student Global AIDS Campaign University Coalitions for Global Health
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PHONE ZAP THE SENATOR’S OFFICE – February 26th:
Another thing you can do this Global HIV/AIDS Week of Action is set up a table and ask people to call their senator’s office and demand support for $8 billion over 5 years for healthcare workers. On February 26th, there will be a concerted effort around the country to call the Senator’s office around this demand. If we can generate hundreds or thousands of calls, they will hear our message and bring it to the senior staff meeting. In the second half of this kit, there is a sample call-in script for the Senator’s office. Steps for a phone zap: - Set up a table in a busy area during lunch or morning commute time. - Have your cell phone with you, and make sure you have minutes - Ask people to call the Senator’s office and ask for $8 billion for health workers (using the script later in the kit). Offer them a cookie or a red ribbon in exchange for the call. - At this time, you can also ask them to join your rally outside of a local decision-maker’s office. Make sure you get their name, email, and most importantly, their phone number. - Send the approximate number of calls made to gaf@amsa.org so we can keep track of how it goes. For the table, you will need: - A fact sheet on health workers - A sample call-in script - The Senator’s office phone number - Cookies or red ribbons to hand out - A sign asking people to ―Fight AIDS In Africa‖ or ―Africa Needs Health Workers‖ or something similar. A list of the phone numbers is provided in this kit. You can also find the Washington or local office numbers for your elected Members of Congress at www.house.gov and www.senate.gov.
FAX-BLAST YOUR REPRESENTATIVE/SENATOR:
Getting people to hand-write letters to their decision-makers, and faxing them all at once, is a tactic that advocates have used in the past to get their voice heard by decision-makers. In order to do this, you can have talking points written out that people can pull from, or ask them to write their own letters. The important thing is that we all ask for the same thing - our elected officials must work to address the healthcare worker crisis. You can also have pre-printed letters, but fewer hand-written letters is more effective and powerful than many pre-printed and signed letters. Make sure people write their local address at the bottom of all letters.
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TAKE ACTION TO FIGHT AIDS NOW:____ DIY calling script for HCWs.
There are not enough health workers to fight AIDS or support public health in Africa. Health professionals already on the ground often face terrible working conditions, and are not paid enough to stay in the field. The United States has finally begun to fund efforts to fight AIDS in impoverished countries, but these efforts will not succeed without additional investments to train and retain the numbers of new health workers needed. Community health workers are one key. With modest investments, we can unleash an army of community-based health workers by training and paying the front-line caregivers already serving in AIDS-stricken towns and cities across Africa: women and people living with HIV. However, community based health workers need professional oversight, and to be able to refer patients to doctors and nurses. A number of countries in Africa are struggling to reach at least one community-based health worker per 1,000 country residents, including Uganda, Kenya, Mozambique and others. Achieving this minimum across sub-Saharan Africa requires 750,000 new community-based health workers, or a U.S. share of 250,000. Please tell the Senator that the shortage of health care workers is costing the lives of millions of people with AIDS, and that he has the power and obligation to initiate a global health workforce initiative in countries devastated by AIDS. Personal Touch Issue Detail “The Ask”
My trip to Africa showed me that AIDS, TB and Malaria are devastating developing countries (personal story)… As a person of faith I am deeply concerned about the 40 million worldwide that are infected with HIV… …and the poor health care infrastructure and lack of trained health care workers is exacerbating the impact of these diseases. …and I feel that there is a moral obligation to address the lack of health care workers to treat the 40 million people living with HIV… …but my colleagues in the developing world are unable to do their jobs and successfully treat those living with HIV… I ask Senator ________ to support a new plan with new money, $8 billion over 5 years, to train and compensate community-based health workers, along with the number of doctors and nurses needed to oversee and effectively care for new referrals. These health workers must be able to provide evidence-based, comprehensive tools for HIV treatment and prevention. I ask that Senator _______ lead the way by supporting a commitment of new funds, $8 billion over the next five years, for training and salaries for community-based health care workers in Africa, as well as support for training and retention of the number of new doctors and nurses needed to supervise them and attend to the cases that community-based health workers will refer. These new health workers should be integrated into primary public health systems. I urge the Senator ______ to address the shortage of health workers in Africa by announcing an initiative with new money, $8 billion over the next five years, to train and support community-based health care workers along with the number of new health professionals needed to supervise them and care for their referrals. New funds for the health care workers should not come at the expense of AIDS or other health care programs. It is important to me and my colleagues/community/church group that Senator ______ support a new initiative with new funds, $8 billion over the next five years, to hire and train community-based health workers – we should train and pay the women and people with HIV who are already serving as front-line care-givers in Africa. It is also necessary to financially support the training and retention of new doctors and nurses to support this army of community-based workers.
Call the Senator (phone #s provided) between 9-5 Eastern Time, MondayFriday.
Press zero, then choose one box from each of the columns:
As a future nurse/doctor, it is important to me that we take every step to fight the AIDS crisis…
I wanted to thank Senator ______ for his strong leadership on HIV/AIDS, but
…the lack of trained and compensated health care workers in the developing world is preventing us from successfully treating HIV.
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SAMPLE LETTER TO REPRESENTATIVE/SENATOR:
[It is best if people hand-write their letter, but a pre-printed letter where people sign and write their address also works] MONTH DAY, 2007 Senator _______ Name of office/facility Street Address City, State Zip Dear Senator ______, [personal details] As a medical student at the University of Kansas Medical Center, I want to thank you for your leadership in the fight against Global HIV/AIDS. . In much of Africa, unfortunately, there are not enough community health care workers, and this shortage is a critical barrier in the efforts to increase access to AIDS treatment. [some good facts] Health professionals across Africa face dangerous, resource-poor conditions that lack essential technology; they are not paid enough to work in such hazardous settings. I applaud the United States for finally beginning to fund efforts to fight AIDS in impoverished countries, but these efforts will fail without the indispensable investments to train and retain the numbers of new health workers needed. African countries, including Uganda, Kenya, Mozambique, are struggling to reach at least one community health worker per 1,000 country residents. Achieving this minimum across sub-Saharan Africa requires investment in sustainable solutions to the health workforce shortage. [your ask] I ask that you lead the way by supporting a commitment of new funds for training and salaries for new community-based health care workers in Africa, as well as support for training and retention of the number of new doctors and nurses needed to supervise them and attend to the cases that community-based health workers will refer. These new health workers should be integrated into primary public health systems. We ask that you support a commitment of $8 billion dollars over the next five years, with a first year commitment of $650 million scaling up to $2.6 billion in year five. I look forward to your continued leadership. Thank you. Sincerely, [Name] [Local address- especially important if targeting local decision maker]
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HOW DO I PLAN A RALLY?
(Courtesy of UCGH, AMSA, and Health Gap) Events should always couple awareness with a clear advocacy demand, made to a person who is in the position to give us what we’re advocating for (like your local Senator or Representative, or the President). We can help you determine local targets (email gaf@amsa.org for help). Make sure media is at the event. Building Momentum 1. The table Set up tabling times in busy area during busy times- most days for 2 weeks before rally. Have eight empty lab coats hung on hangers nearby. At the table, ask people to write their own sentence on a premade letter to the White House or local Senator/Representative with a specific ―ask‖- like $8 billion for health workers. For this they get a ribbon or cookie. You could also have people get their picture taken with a demand written on a piece of paper in exchange for a cookie/ribbon. After they write a letter or get a picture taken (or if they don’t have time to write a letter or get a picture taken), ask them to sign up to attend the rally on X date @ X time at X location. Get their name, email and cell number for follow-up. Letters should be faxed to the local decision maker’s Washington office, and you should keep a copy. Pictures should be emailed to gaf@amsa.org. 2. Other Publicity − Put posters up about the need for health workers in bathrooms. Ask people to come by the table and write a letter, they get a free red ribbon or cookie. Also advertise the rally on the same flier. − Ask friendly professors to let you come pitch the rally to their class (get names, email and cell phone of interested folks), or ask their classes to write letters. − Screen a movie which highlights the AIDS Crisis and ask people to sign up to attend the rally. − Write letters to the editor of your local newspaper/magazine, discussing our promise to address the global healthcare worker crisis achieve universal access to AIDS treatment by 2010, and inviting people to attend the rally. 4. Building your team Add all the emails you get to a listserv, send weekly (or bi-weekly) updates about the demo planning. Ask for help from people who sign up to help make the demo happen. Have sign-making parties and other things to get people involved. 5. Follow-up 2 days before demo, call everyone who has signed up and remind them. Ask them if they still plan to attend. No means no, maybe means no, yes means maybe. Invite them to meet up at X location and X time (if departure time is 10am, ask them to meet at 9:30am) to travel together to rally site. Also call press and send them a heads-up press advisory. 6. Day before the rally. Have a sign and prop-making party! Too hard to make lots of coats the morning of if lots are needed... Balloons will hopefully last overnight. Call press again and send press release. Make press packets to give to press w/ supporting documents, fact sheets, and press release. 7. Day of the rally. Call all the yeses and maybes. Set up table at location point, have people sign in and get a white lab coat, if applicable. Make more signs while people gather. When people are there, head over together. Do demo, drop off all letters that have been written or pictures that have been taken, have speaker for the media. Make sure you approach and talk to the press, and give them your pre-made press packets.
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RALLY WITH EMPTY WHITE COATS:
Similar to the photo action, the empty white coat action takes your demands directly to your elected representatives and makes demands of them. Goal: Get the White House and Congress to support $8 billion over 5 years to train & retain sufficient health workers to fight AIDS in Africa Why Empty White Coats? Empty white coats give a powerful image of the missing health workers in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Make empty white coats by using disposable lab coats (available at: http://allheart.com/ahd000410.html) and filling them with white helium balloons to make them float. Spray paint a stencil with your demand on the back. When should I do my event? Events for Global HIV/AIDS Week of Action should be early in the week of action. This will ensure they will receive maximal press (and press for the rest of your week too!), and influence the official announcement during the Global HIV/AIDS Week of Action around a new healthcare worker initiative. The RallyThe goal: (It’s two for the price of one!) • To call for President Bush to put forward a powerful initiative on health care workers • Gain Congressional allies on this issue Therefore, plan rally w/ empty white coats and lots of people delivering letters to local federal politician’s office. (preferably in the morning to maximize the media impact). Various rally ―flavors‖: Organize a peaceful picket with lab coats suspended and creative chants in front of an important target in front of key office Hold a vigil with candles every night for a week in front of key office—mourn the death of millions who could be saved by more health care workers. Organize a big demonstration that blocks traffic and marches through your town or city demanding action from the White House. Hang a banner from a prominent location (highway overpass, tall building, church steeple, etc). Stage a massive die-in (a form of street theater in which demonstrators lie down in the streets symbolically in memory of those who have died from HIV disease). Take over the GOP HQ or Republican Congressman’s office(s) at one and refuse to leave until your demands have been met. Contact gaf@amsa.org or hstoklosa@globalhealth.org for help with this.
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OTHER OPTIONS FOR THE GLOBAL HIV/AIDS WEEK OF ACTION:
Write letters to the editor to local papers, detailing our promise to address the global healthcare worker crisis, and calling on elected leaders- by name- to do what is necessary, like support $8 billion over 5 years in new money for healthcare workers. If you have people write letters, you can deliver those letters in person to the office. Make sure to bring the press, and have a speaker talk about what the letters are asking for. After the rally, set up meetings with your legislators’ staff, and encourage them in the meeting to do what is necessary. Facilitate a postcard mail-in campaign to a local legislator asking them to lobby the U.S. Representatives to fund healthcare workers. Arrange panels in the community or on school/university campuses to present and discuss the ―Brain Drain: Africa’s Health Workforce Crisis‖ power point presentation. Phone in to local radio talk shows to discuss the global shortage of healthcare workers and that of the necessary funds to address the problem. Flood the radio station with calls throughout the particular program by organizing and publicizing on your university campus or the community. Build a mock graveyard with tombstones on your college campus in order to symbolize the people dying of HIV/AIDS because there are not sufficient healthcare workers to provide a prominent healthcare system. This will get substantial attention, after which you can tell the people to take action by calling in, writing a letter, or sending a fax through the resources that you can provide by setting a table by the mock graveyard. The sample letter and the call in script are provided in this kit.
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A RECAP OF DEMANDS
As we all know, our collective voices are more powerful than our voices individually, and we are most effective if we all demand the same thing. Therefore, please consider including at least one of these demands in your ―Global HIV/AIDS Week of Action‖ action planning: $8 billion over 5 years in new money to fund the training and retention of the African healthcare workers that will be needed to reach Universal Access by 2010. Of these funds, $650 million must be contributed in year 1 while increasing the amount over the subsequent years. Initiation of an extensive healthcare initiative that trains, compensates, and deploys health care workers to attain a 1/1000 health care worker to patient ratio. It must also support 1 health professional per 6 healthcare workers and integration into overall primary system. Reduction of brain drain by taking active measures including increasing the number of health professional graduates in the U.S. – increase medical school graduates by 5,000 and nursing graduates by 25,000 over the next 10-15 years, decreasing recruitment from under-developed countries, and working with foreign countries and organizations in order to develop policies regarding relocation and recruitment so that both the source and the end countries are reciprocally benefited. Full coverage of the public health systems/human resource costs of executing PEPFAR and other U.S. initiatives. Full funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria-at least $766 million this year from the U.S.
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TIPS ON PRESS WORK:
We will have a phone training for people who would like to learn more during the week of February 19th. 1. Three things to know about reporters Reporters only want to know what they already know, regurgitate old stories- example: girl in Aruba is always written about. Reporters often want to write about something that usually has nothing to do with what you want them to write about- example: write about black men on the down low when the real issue in the community is a lack of funding for services. Reporters have limited time- if your message takes more than 10 seconds to communicate, then it's too long. 2. Basic principles of working with the media We need to tie our message to existing stories ("Culture of Corruption" "Time for Change") or make it sound newsworthy so it fits into the context of what's already happening We need to always stay on message, and make them write our story, not theirs We need to boil-down our message into one sentence 3. What is a message? What we want to get across, the story we want told by the reporter in the press A message captures our position on an issue, and how to solve it. Usually very short- 10 seconds or less, soundbite! What are key components of a message? The P-S-A Model: 1. Problem- what is the conflict? How can it be defined in a compelling way? What is the big picture result of the problem? The lack of Health Workers in Africa means that we cannot meet our stated goal of achieving universal access to AIDS treatment by 2010. 2. Solution- how do we fix the problem? Provides hope that things can change- A new initiative of $8 billion over 5 years to fund the training and retention of health workers means will help ensure that we keep our promises at the United Nations and G8. 3. Action- what do you want people to do about the problem to get to the solution? This is the call to action. Representative Smith should support this new initiative, and use his position on the Appropriations Committee to push for $8bn over 5 years for the training and retention of health workers in Africa.
4. Pitching stories to reporters Remember that this takes practice, and you can read off a piece of paper if it makes you feel more comfortable. You need to attract their attention quickly. Saying something like ―Hi, my name is [name] from [organization]. How are you doing today?‖ helps attract a reporters attention quickly. You then have 10 seconds to let them know about the event and why they should cover it. It is good to call print press in the morning (before 11am), radio press in the late morning to early afternoon (10a-2p), and TV press in the afternoon (noon-4pm before local news comes on) Global HIV/AIDS Week of Action: Healthcare Worker Action Guide 13
A rule of thumb is to call them three times- once a week before (and send them your advisory), once 2 days before (and send them your press release), and once the day of the event (and re-send your release). A press release is never enough to get a reporter to cover an event, it’s only an excuse to call a reporter. When you call, they will inevitably say ―send me a press release‖, to which you can respond ―sure, what’s the best way to get it to you? Also, do you have 2 minutes so that I can explain the demonstration to you?‖
Make sure you keep track of who you called, who committed to coming, and who came to the event. Record their name, outlet, email, phone number, and fax number for next time!
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PRESS ADVISORY Date Contact: Your name, your cell number
Your Org’s Logo here
ACTIVISTS DEMAND PRESIDENT BUSH, REPRESENTATIVE SMITH AND SENATOR JONES SUPPORT UNIVERSAL ACCESS TO AIDS TREATMENT During Global HIV/AIDS Week of Action, Activists rally to demand we keep our promises
WHO: ―Your Organization Name and description‖ WHAT: Rally to demand that President Bush, Representative Smith and Senator Jones support and work towards Healthcare Worker increase in Africa and health professional graduate increase in the U.S. Great visual of floating empty white lab coats to symbolize the lack of health workers in Africa. Similar actions are happening in dozens of locations around the country, all kicking off a Global HIV/AIDS Week of Action. WHEN: Date @ Time WHERE: Senator Jones’ office (1 Main Street), with a march to Representative Smith’s office. WHY: The U.S. and other governments have committed to achieving universal access to AIDS treatment by the year 2010, but our leaders are failing to address several severe obstacles which stand in the way of that goal. Representative Smith has a powerful and unique opportunity to ensure that we achieve this essential goal because he is on the House Appropriations Committee, the committee in the House of Representatives which determines funding for all programs Rep. Smith must lead an effort along with President Bush to set the U.S. on track to meet its commitments to universal access for AIDS treatment. [your org.] is calling for: $8 billion over 5 years in new money to fund the training and retention of the African healthcare workers that will be needed to reach Universal Access by 2010. Of these funds, $650 million must be contributed in year 1 while increasing the amount over the subsequent years. Initiation of an extensive healthcare initiative that trains, compensates, and deploys health care workers to attain a 1/1000 health care worker to patient ratio. It must also support 1 health professional per 6 healthcare workers and integration into overall primary system. Reduction of brain drain by taking active measures including increasing the number of health professional graduates in the U.S. – increase medical school graduates by 5,000 and nursing graduates by 25,000 over the next 10-15 years, decreasing recruitment from under-developed countries, and working with foreign countries and organizations in order to develop policies regarding relocation and recruitment so that both the source and the end countries are reciprocally benefited. Full coverage of the public health systems/human resource costs of executing PEPFAR and other U.S. initiatives.
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Full funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria-at least $766 million this year from the US. ### Global HIV/AIDS Week of Action: Healthcare Worker Action Guide
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date Contact: Your name, Your cell number
Your Org’s Logo Here
ACTIVISTS DELIVER EMPTY WHITE LAB COATS TO SENATOR JONES’ OFFICE TO SYMBOLIZE LACK OF HEALTH WORKERS IN AFRICA Demand President Bush, Sen. Jones, and Rep. Smith keep their promises on Universal Access to AIDS Treatment
YOUR CITY- At 11am today at 1 Main Street, dozens of medical students, undergraduate students, people of faith, and people living with HIV/AIDS rallied outside Senator Jones’ office in downtown [your city] to call for Universal Access to AIDS Treatment by 2010, a promise that US officials have made repeatedly at G8 summits and the United Nations over the past few years. Advocates floated empty white lab coats to symbolize the lack of trained health workers in Africa, and demanded that President Bush, Senator Jones, and Representative Smith create a new initiative to fund the training and retention of health workers in Africa. This new initiative would cost $8 billion over 5 years from the US government. Activists also called for initiatives in order to increase the number of health professional graduates from American medical and graduate schools. This action was part of a nation-wide action to call on decision-makers to address the lack of health workers in Africa and that of health professional graduates in the U.S. It is crucial to address these crises in order to achieve universal access to AIDS treatment. Dozens of groups around the country, including the Student Global AIDS Campaign, ACT UP, American Medical Student Association, and University Coalitions for Global Health all participated, united as one voice to call on the United States to fight AIDS and ensure universal access to treatment. ―Rep. Smith has a unique opportunity to ensure that everyone around the world who needs it has access to AIDS treatment,‖ said [name of person] from [name of organization]. ―He is on the appropriations committee, which means that he is able to push for a new initiative from the US to train and retain health workers in Africa at $8 billion over 5 years.‖ Africa has 13% of the world’s population, 25% of the world’s disease burden, and only 2.8% of the world’s health workforce. Former US Global AIDS Coordinator and current head of the US Agency for International Development Randall Tobias said that the greatest obstacle to achieving our goals for AIDS treatment is the lack of trained health workers in Africa. In 2003, President Bush promised to get 2 million people on treatment within 5 years. Activists also called upon the leaders for the initiation of an extensive healthcare initiative that trains, compensates, and deploys health care workers to attain a 1/1000 health care worker to patient ratio. This would also support 1 health professional per 6 healthcare workers and integration into overall primary system. Additionally, they demanded full coverage of the public health systems/human resource costs of executing PEPFAR and other U.S. initiatives. [Name], or [Organization] stated that ―President Bush, Representative Smith and Senator Jones must support full-funding at $766 million for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria. This is one of the most effective mechanisms for getting money for treatment and services on the ground that we have available.‖ The Global Fund, a multi-lateral funding source, provides grants to countries and civil society organizations working on the ground to fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria in developing countries. ### Global HIV/AIDS Week of Action: Healthcare Worker Action Guide 16
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FACT SHEET African Health Capacity Investment Act
What is the African Health Capacity Investment Act? The African Health Capacity Investment Act is a bill to amend the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act to help the sub-Saharan African countries in their effort to achieve internationally recognized goals in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. Additionally, it is to assist in the prevention and treatment of other major diseases and the reduction of child and maternal mortality, all by improving human health care capacity and retention of health professionals in the sub-Saharan Africa. What does the African Health Capacity Investment Act do? The African Health Capacity Investment Act would fundamentally address the healthcare worker shortage in sub-Saharan Africa. It would authorize $100 million in year 1, $150 million in year 2, and $200 million in year 3 for the U.S. government to utilize in providing and consulting with African governments and organizations to provide technical and financial assistance. The funds would be utilized mainly in building and retaining a healthcare workforce, paying sufficient salaries and increasing worker safety and healthcare in order to reduce brain drain, and developing training and educational opportunities and programs. Additionally, the bill would require the U.S. to use the funds to help the African countries develop national plans on human resources for health if they have not already done so. By requiring the government to monitor, evaluate, and report on the workforce’s successes or lack thereof, the U.S. government would be required to support a sustainable healthcare workforce. Why is the African Health Capacity Investment Act important? There are over 1 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the US, more than any other time during the epidemic. Of those, almost half do not receive adequate treatment and care. The lack of healthcare workers is the biggest obstacle in providing HIV/AIDS treatment, while a strong human infrastructure is the most crucial factor in fulfilling health promises and providing adequate health care. The lifetime risk of maternal death is 1 out of 16 for a woman in sub-Saharan Africa. The emigration of a substantial number of health professionals from Africa, leading to brain drain, adds to the lack of healthcare workers problem by failing national and international efforts to improve access to healthcare in the particular region. The global shortage of health workers exceeds 4,000,000, African shortage being the most acute, as estimated by the Joint Learning Initiative on Human Resources for Health and Development. One-fourth of sub-Saharan African countries have less than 50 nurses per 100,000 people or less than half the levels of staffing recommended by the World Health Organization. The African Health Capacity Investment Act is crucial in order to address and fund all of these matters. What is the major issue with the African Health Capacity Investment Act at this time? At this time, there is not sufficient bipartisan support for the African Health Capacity Investment Act. The support is crucial in order to establish an essential and sustainable health care system in Africa, while addressing the healthcare worker shortage domestically and internationally.
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FIGHT AIDS ATHOME:
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