My Journey in the Kingdom of Swaziland: Day 3: Visiting Baylor Children's Clinical Centre of Excellence

Why am I in Swaziland?

HIV is a global pandemic and claimed the lives of millions of people all over the world. One of my hopes is that there will be a cure for HIV during or after my lifetime. Not only do I believe in physical healing of HIV, but I also believe in spiritual healing by faith in God. God has called me to act on this issue and my work here in Swaziland is being done to bring Him glory. By the grace of God, I was accepted into the Minority Health International Research Training (MHIRT) program offered by the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Public Health. Due to my passion for HIV research and prevention, I was selected to conduct research on the barriers to antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation among HIV-positive children 2 to 18 months of age in Swaziland. With the relatively high rate of HIV among pregnant women and the relatively low rate of children initiated on ART in comparison to adults in Swaziland, this a major public health concern within the country.

What am I doing?

Just to get an idea of what I will be blogging about, I will be implementing a research project on the barriers to antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation among HIV-positive children 2-18 months of age in Swaziland. I will be carrying out the study at several different health facilities in Swaziland with my research partner and fellow MHIRT trainee, Chantal Harris, who also attends the University of Florida. Our main job is to carry out the study by following the research protocol with the assistance of data clerks, the primary investigators, public health stakeholders, and doctors associated with the project and ART initiation among children. The research project is also funded by UNICEF, which allowed us to hire data clerks to assist with data extraction, survey administration, and the facilitation of focus groups for the study.

Who do I work with?

My fellow MHIRT trainee, Chantal Harris, will be working on the research project with me all summer. She also will be living with me in Dr. Peter Preko's guest house in Mbabane, Swaziland. Dr. Preko is our host and mentor as well as one of the primary investigators of the research study. Dr. Pauline Jolly is also a primary investigator for this research project and also the director of the MHIRT program at UAB. Mrs. Nobuhle Mthethwa is another one of the primary investigators and is the National Paediatric ART Officer of the Swaziland National AIDS Program (SNAP) of the Ministry Of Health (MoH). We have four data clerks helping us to carry out the study, which are two Swazi women, Nelisiwe (Neli for short) and Nozipho, and two Swazi men, Ndumiso and Sibusiso. Two other fellow MHIRT trainees, Jessica and ShaCoria, are also here in Swaziland for 12 weeks, but they are implementing a different project (association between HIV status and cervical cancer among women) and live with a host family in Manzini, Swaziland. The UNICEF budget for the research budget also rendered us the opportunity to hire two drivers from Affordable Car Hire (Smangaliso and Sipho) to take us from clinic to clinic.

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Day 3: Visiting Baylor Children's Clinical Centre of Excellence

The Baylor College of Medicine- Bristol Myer Squibb Children's Clinical Centre of Excellence (COE), in Mbabane, Swaziland

Baylor Children's Clinical Centre of Excellence (COE) in Mbabane is the base site for my research project. This is where my work station is located and where my research team and I schedule research trainings, focus groups, work on the questionnaire, construct the database for data entry, print out the materials for the study, and seek technical assistance from doctors and other stakeholders helping to implement the project efficiently. Chantal and I are both working on understanding the barriers to antiretroviral (ART) initiation among HIV-positive infants. Our main job is to implement the project by following the protocol guidelines with the assistance of the data clerks, the primary investigators, public health stakeholders and doctors associated with the project and ART initiation among children. The research project is also funded by UNICEF, which allowed us to hire data clerks to assist with data extraction and survey administration. The four data clerks primarily administer the questionnaires and facilitate the focus groups for the study, which is necessary because our research project covers a variety of clinics (nine originally) and Chantal and I need Swazis (the nationality of Swaziland) to help us since most Swazis speak Siswati. So we have four Swazi data clerks who will be able to speak Siswati to the participants, which is usually the preferred language here, although many people know and understand English. However, I noticed that many cannot understand my English because of my accent and the speed in which I speak English.

Here is just a little background about Baylor. The Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative in Swaziland (BIPAI Swaziland) operates in Mbabane, Swaziland and has two satellite locations at Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital in Manzini and Hlathikhulu Hospital in Hlathikhulu. Baylor COE is well-known for its success in providing antiretroviral (ARV) medication for HIV-positive children in Swaziland. BIPAI is also an affiliate of Baylor College of Medicine in Texas. BIPAI also operates in other countries, many of which are in Africa.