Specialist Registrar awarded Fellowship to improve the treatment of HIV and AIDS

As part of the Fellowship, Anatole will spend a year in the United States conducting research into barriers to effective HIV and AIDS treatment with the long-term goal of applying his findings in the UK sexual health policy context. Anatole, who will receive a paid sabbatical from his existing role, will have the opportunity to mix with leading US health professionals, policy makers and analysts whilst in the US.

According to figures from UNAIDS, in 2004 the number of people infected with HIV exceeded 39 million. In the same year, there were 3.2 million deaths from HIV, many of which could have been prevented. Anatole’s research will use epidemiological, economic, socio-demographic and legal analysis to further understanding of the effectiveness of US and UK policies for the treatment of HIV and AIDS. HIV is now largely seen as a chronic illness that can be treated effectively with prompt diagnosis and anti-retroviral treatment. The research will examine the reasons why US and UK healthcare systems let down patients by failing to diagnose HIV infection or to commence treatment at the appropriate time.

Anatole said; “This Fellowship provides me with a unique opportunity to learn from US policies for tackling HIV and AIDS. I hope the findings of my research will provide important lessons that we can apply in the UK context in order to improve sex education, harm reduction, HIV testing and access to treatments. Additionally, I hope my research will make a contribution to the international healthcare policy context to improve the care that patients receive.”

Stephen Thornton, Chief Executive of The Health Foundation, said; “We’re delighted to award Anatole one of our two Harkness/Health Foundation Fellowships. We were particularly impressed by his proposed research project and his plans to disseminate his findings to UK policy makers. As one of our Fellows, he will receive our continued support to ensure that his year in the US is fruitful for his personal and professional development and that his important research findings help to influence policy and improve patient care.”

Recruitment for the Harkness/Health Foundation Fellowships in Healthcare Policy for 2007-2008 is currently underway. Applicants must demonstrate a strong interest in health policy development and implementation and propose a research study that falls within the scope of The Commonwealth Fund’s national programme areas, examples of which can be found at www.cmwf.org Projects must focus on analysing a feature of the US healthcare system that has direct relevance to the policy agenda in the UK. The Health Foundation is particularly keen to support studies that focus on improving the quality, safety and efficiency of UK healthcare services.