od learning experience for me. I have learned a lot about HIV, how to work with others, and am gaining an understanding of how government programs are run. Our hospital is working on becoming a site that gives antiretroviral medicines to patients who qualify for treatment. All our pts are currently going to the Hagen clinic, but after we finish the government requirements, we will soon be supplying our own meds. I recently had a meeting with some folks from Hagen about HIV stuff. It was interesting because I haven't completed any of the training, and am not familiar with all the lingo that the
y use, but I tried not to let this show. I have read the materials that Dr. Scott left for me, so I do know something about HIV care itself. I was thinking I shouldn't be in this meeting by myself, someone should be here so I don't say something I shouldn't, but it went alright. I tried to encourage them that we are ready to start giving out ARTs, but they said we still have to wait until our HIV person here, Sister Judy, completes her training.
I have been working with Sister Judy to continue to develop our program. We are working on getting the required labs so we can follow their blood counts, determining if they have TB or not, and determining what drug regimen we plan to give them. I have worked on revising our protocol for our Labor Ward in order to try and prevent the transmission of HIV to babies. We currently have meds that we can use to treat the newborns right after birth, and, shortly, will be getting more meds to be able to treat both mom and babies for longer periods of time. We are working on getting our Labor Ward nurses trained in counseling and performing the blood test, so we are able to test everyone when they come in to deliver. The HIV population in PNG is growing, so this will become a big part of what we do here in the years to come.
