Accordia Global Health Foundation Receives $12.5 Million Grant From Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Research Will Help Mid-Level Health Providers Respond to Infectious Disease Epidemics in Africa

WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Accordia Global Health Foundation, formerly the Academic Alliance Foundation, has received a $12.5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support a landmark study to identify the most effective and cost-efficient way to prepare healthcare workers in sub-Saharan Africa to treat infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. The study results could have an enormous impact on the way doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals across the continent are trained.

"The grant enables Accordia to further refine our model of best practices in healthcare education, building on our years of experience training health professionals in Africa," said Dr. Warner Greene, Accordia President. "The research will determine which specific approaches to infectious disease training have the greatest impact on the overall healthcare system, and could change how millions of dollars are being spent globally."

"Accordia's research will help inform donors and countries about the most effective education and training models for mid-level health care providers in Africa," said Kathy Cahill, Deputy Director of Integrated Health Solutions Development at the Gates Foundation.

In Africa, clinical officers, nurses, and other mid-level practitioners outnumber doctors by 6:1. Training mid-level practitioners to perform tasks conventionally assigned to doctors could play a vital role in helping sorely strained health workforces in resource-limited settings better address the needs of their patients.

The three year study will take place at 32 sites throughout Uganda, and evaluate the impact of the new training program on clinical behavior and patient health. It will also test whether or not the incremental impact of on-site support services relative to classroom training alone can be cost-effective.

Accordia has taken a leadership role in developing a comprehensive approach to fighting infectious disease in Africa. Accordia's strategy is to invest in African healthcare systems to address today's need to fight HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, and to prepare a new generation of African healthcare leaders for tomorrow's challenges. In 2004, Accordia established the Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) within Makerere University as the preeminent center in sub-Saharan Africa for infectious disease training, treatment and research.

For more information please visit www.accordiafoundation.org.

SOURCE Accordia Global Health Foundation

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