to russia with love

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The number of HIV carriers in countries of the former Soviet Union is growing at an alarming rate. To help medical personnel there deal with this threat, Rambam recently offered them a course in HIV medicine.

Six years ago, “M”, a new immigrant and HIV carrier was involved in drugs and crime. Today, thanks to an interdisciplinary treatment he received at Rambam, “M” holds a degree, helps drug addicts and is engaged to be married. This month, thirty representatives of the former Soviet Union’s health establishment came to Rambam to learn how to replicate this success.

To help counter the widespread – and growing – AIDS problem in former Soviet Union states, a course in HIV medicine for representatives from these countries took place recently at Rambam. Held in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UN AIDS, the two-week course was attended by 30 participants. All attendees are active in areas of medicine and communications in

Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan and Georgia, and all work with HIV carriers.
Dr. Lorber attributed the rising number of HIV carriers in former Soviet Union countries to intravenous drug use. “HIV has reached epidemic proportions in these places,” she says.

Every year Rambam holds courses for HIV/AIDS carriers from countries in Africa and Asia including Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, the Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, South Africa, Thailand, Myanmar, India and Vietnam. This is the first course in which some participants were Russian-speaking. In the coming weeks an additional course is scheduled to begin, this time for 30 health workers from Africa.

One of the climactic moments of the course was a meeting between “M”, an HIV carrier in his mid-30’s, who arrived to Israel years ago as a drug addict and petty criminal. The interdisciplinary treatment rehabilitated “M”, who today holds a BA in social work, leads groups of former addicts, deals with withdrawal treatments and plans to get married within the next few months.

Dr. Margolit Lauber, head of Rambam’s Unit of Autoimmune Diseases, academic director of the course program and supervisor of “M”’s treatment to this day, met with participants of the course. She pointed to “M”’s rehabilitation as a remarkable success story that proves the value of investing in “rejected” patients, like drug users and the homeless. According to Dr. Lauber, “He represents patients who exist everywhere, and he gives us hope that we can help a person with a complicated disorder to build a new life.”
Follow-up is a crucial part of the courses. “At the end of each course, participants build a special project. When they return to their countries, we continue to help them by answering their questions, offering our input and sending more materials,” says Dr Lorber. “We build a network, which becomes central in addressing this problem.”

Along with Dr. Lorber, Rambam medical staff Psychologist Mark Sherman, Head Nurse of the Department of Medicine Irit Bialik, Social Worker and Svetlana Okon helped deliver the course. In addition, Rambam’s medical clown program was presented to the Russian-speaking participants. A second course for Russian-speaking participants has been planned, and will be held at Rambam in Autumn, 2010