Our Partner & Project
The UNC Chapter of GlobeMed is working hard to have its own positive effect on health communities worldwide. Through support of Health Alert Uganda, a grassroots organization providing breast-feeding materials to HIV positive mothers, we are students fighting to slow down the spread of HIV through one of the most overlooked and ill supported methods of transmission.
Location
Gulu, Uganda
Key fact
Gulu, Uganda has the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the country.
Our Partner
Health Alert is a non-profit, grassroots, organization that began in 2004 and is indigenous to Gulu, Uganda. Its over-arching mission is to support children in Gulu who are infected and/or affected by HIV/AIDS. Through a dedicated staff and 66 community volunteers, HAU extends a helping hand to at least 1,200 children living with HIV in the surrounding area via close monitoring and evaluation of the children's health, well-being, and adherence to ARV treatment. To further their mission, anti-stigma campaigns and Voluntary Counseling and Testing programs co-sponsored by the local government hospitals are often carried out in the community.
Our project
In recent years, HAU has pursued a Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission project with sponsorship by a division of Save the Children. Pregnant mothers who are HIV positive are referred to HAU and are both counseled during pregnancy as well as encouraged to give birth in a hospital to decrease the risk of infection. After birth, HIV/AIDS can also be passed through breastfeeding so Health Alert prepares care packages of formula and other items for mothers to further decrease the chances of their infants contracting HIV/AIDS. This year, GlobeMed at UNC plans to fund-raise for this cause in order to hold a direct impact in the community. Through collaboration with HAU, future projects will be aimed at capacity building and improving HAU's monitoring and evaluation of their projects on-ground.
