Will Universal Access to Antiretroviral Therapy Ever be Possible? The Health Care Worker Challenge

The United Nations millennium development goal of providing universal access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) for patients living with HIV/AIDS by 2010 is unachievable. Currently, four million people are receiving ART, of an estimated 13.7 million who need it. A major challenge to achieving this goal...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: André R Maddison, Walter F Schlech
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2010-01-01
Series:Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2010/432306
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Summary:The United Nations millennium development goal of providing universal access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) for patients living with HIV/AIDS by 2010 is unachievable. Currently, four million people are receiving ART, of an estimated 13.7 million who need it. A major challenge to achieving this goal is the shortage of health care workers in low-income and low-resource areas of the world. Sub-Saharan African countries have 68% of the world’s burden of illness from AIDS, yet have only 3% of health care workers worldwide. The shortage of health care providers is primarily caused by a national and international ‘brain drain,’ poor distribution of health care workers within countries, and health care worker burnout.
ISSN:1712-9532