AIDS Healthcare Foundation Partners with Management Sciences for Health on USAID 'AIDSTAR' Program

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 22 AIDS Healthcare Foundation(AHF) today announced that it has partnered with Management Sciences forHealth (MSH) as a member of the MSH consortium recently named by the UnitedStates Agency for International Development (USAID) as one of six contractorseligible to compete over five years for up to $500 million in contracts tosupport global HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment efforts.

The contracting mechanism, known as AIDSTAR (AIDS Support and TechnicalAssistance Resources), is designed to support programs in the President'sEmergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) by providing technical assistance toexpand quality HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment services in all 114 countriesin which PEPFAR operates, including the 15 focus countries in Africa, Asia andthe Caribbean. USAID, administrator of AIDSTAR, serves as a major PEPFARimplementing partner.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation is one of eight partner organizations in theMSH AIDSTAR consortium, each with a different area of technical expertise. Asa leading provider of global HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention and advocacy,AHF's focus will include: developing and implementing HIV/AIDS treatmentprograms; providing antiretroviral (ART) technical assistance and training;integrating HIV/AIDS care, support and treatment; providing HIV counseling andtesting; recruiting and training health care paraprofessionals to serve astreatment extenders (i.e. task-shifting intervention); and promoting HIV/AIDSglobal advocacy.

"We are pleased to join with the highly-regarded Management Sciences forHealth, and other consortium partners, to help address the global HIV/AIDScrisis and proud to be a part of this important USAID 'AIDSTAR' reliefeffort," said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. "Welook forward to collaborating with MSH and to utilizing our expertise in thedelivery of HIV/AIDS medical services to help strengthen countries' localcapacity and to assist in the rapid ART delivery scale-up -- both of whichcontinue to be of paramount importance in the fight against this growingpandemic."

Since mid-2006, AHF has partnered with MSH on the USAID-funded HaitiHealth System 2004 Project (HS2004). With MSH as the primary contractor inthe project, AHF has been providing assistance in areas including: scale up ofthe delivery of lifesaving ART, expansion of the number of people on treatmentas well as improved patient adherence to HIV protocols and HIV/AIDS drugregimens; expansion of access to HIV testing and counseling; and improvedaccess to services to prevent mother to child transmission of HIV.

In addition to AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the MSH AIDSTAR consortiumincludes Boston University's Center for International Health and Development(CIHD), Howard Delafield International (HDI), IMA World Health, InitiativesInc., International Centre for Migration and Health (ICMH), Save the ChildrenFederation, Inc., and World Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP).

About Management Sciences for Health

Management Sciences for Health (MSH) is a private, non-profit educationaland scientific organization working collaboratively with health carepolicymakers, managers, providers, and consumers to help close the gap betweenwhat is known about public health problems and what is done to solve them. MSHseeks to increase the effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability of healthservices by improving management systems, promoting access to services, andinfluencing public policy. http://www.msh.org

About AIDS Healthcare Foundation

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is the nation's largest non-profitHIV/AIDS healthcare, research, prevention and education provider and currentlyprovides medical care and/or services to more than 61,000 individuals in 15countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean and Asia.www.aidshealth.org

SOURCE AID