Annual Program Report 2004 - American International Health Alliance

hypertension and pneumonia at the Kramatorsk
Women’s Wellness Center and the Kramatorsk
Family Medicine Department. A pediatric and an
adult dental clinic opened at the Uzhgorod
University Family Medicine Training Clinic. At the
Velykiy Berezny Family Medicine Center, referrals to
specialists decreased to 27 percent by mid-2004
from 53 percent at its opening in 2000. The
Kiev/Philadelphia partnership held a conference for
100 participants from 18 oblasts to review clinical
skills and assessment using standardized patient
methodology. A teen counseling center was opened
and a PHC nursing conference was held in Kharkiv.
A new nursing curriculum developed by the partnership
with LaCrosse was introduced at the
Kharkiv Post-Graduate Medical Academy as the
basis for a new four-year nursing degree program.
New Family Planning/Reproductive
Health Partnerships
(Russia)
In response to one of Russia’s continuing national
health priorities – improving reproductive health to
reverse negative population growth – USAID provided
funding in July for two new partnerships
aimed at enhancing primary care providers’ ability to
meet family planning needs and integrating reproductive
health and patient education into primary
care in two oblasts. The Moscow Oblast-Dubna/
La Crosse and Volgograd/Little Rock partnerships are
providing training in reproductive health and effective
patient education and outreach techniques. The
objectives of these partnerships are to increase access
to family planning services, to train additional family
planning practitioners, to expand use of family planning
services by women and couples at PHC facilities
and to raise contraceptive prevalence rates in underserved
communities.
Breast Health
(Central Asia and Romania)
The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation
funded two AIHA projects to improve skills and services
related to breast cancer detection and treatment.
The Romanian project is co-funded by USAID.
Radiology Quality Assurance in Romania
With support from US volunteer specialists recruited
by AIHA, the Romanian Society for Breast Imaging
A nurse at Yerevan’s St. Grigor Lusavorich Medical Center receives
a “Journey to Nursing Excellence” ribbon from Mary Ann Anderson
of Wake Forest University’s Baptist Medical Center.
was formed to organize training and to serve as a
liaison with the Ministry of Health for radiology
quality assurance. At five pilot sites, 20 radiology
technicians, radiologists and physicists were trained
and quality assurance testing equipment and supplies
were purchased and installed. The newlyintroduced
quality assurance processes greatly
improved mammography procedures and patient
positioning, resulting in improved quality of breast
x-ray images. USAID is selecting five additional sites
at which Romanian trainers will provide training.
The quality assurance manual of the American
College of Radiology was adapted and translated into
Romanian to serve as a procedure manual.
Central Asia Nursing and Breast Health
The project’s long-term goal is to improve breast
health by upgrading nurses’ roles and skills in
detection and treatment of breast cancer in
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
At the initial workshop in May, 40 nurses were
trained as breast health educators and invited to
submit proposals for community-based breast
health projects. The 14 nurses who submitted proposals
attended a second workshop in November
where participants discussed their proposed projects
and received training in advocacy and adult education
techniques. Ten of the projects (totaling $5,000)
were subsequently selected for funding. The projects
range from training nurses in clinical and breast
self-exam to raising community awareness to promote
early detection.
Photo: Courtesy of Linda Aiken
14 American International Health Alliance