CDC mentors 75 nations to treat HIV/AIDS

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WASHINGTON, July 23 (UPI) -- U.S. health officials said they are working collaboratively to train and mentor 75 countries to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS.

Officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the CDC helped implement the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief through their scientific and technical expertise and longstanding partnerships with Ministries of Health and other key global partners such as the World Health Organization.

"These studies and programs will help countries increase their capacity to plan, implement, and evaluate effective services to turn the tide on the HIV/AIDS epidemic," Kevin DeCock, CDC's director for Center for Global Health, said in a statement. "A technical cooperation between CDC, Thailand, and Lao People's Democratic Republic shows how an effective model for technical exchange between countries with limited resources can help advance national HIV/AIDS goals."

Best practices from successful Thailand programs were adapted to Lao People's Democratic Republic, a country whose population is especially at-risk for HIV due to increasing mobility, tourism, urbanization and migration.

Achara Teeraratkul and colleagues at the CDC reported improvements had been seen by December 2011 in the quality of care, treatment and prevention of mother to child HIV transmission, and in the quality of laboratory systems.