Air Force leads HIV/AIDS course

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  • By Staff Sgt. Don Nelson
  • Air Force Print News
International medical and military leaders representing nearly 12 countries, gathered here Nov. 3 to 7 to discuss awareness of HIV and AIDS and its impact to the military worldwide. The third annual course was held by Defense Institute for Medical Operations officials from Brooks City-Base, Texas.

The strategic planning and policy development course is designed to promote a sharing of new ideas and case studies on prevention, care and control of the disease, officials said.

Maj. (Dr.) Brian Agan, Wilford Hall Medical Center HIV program director and course developer, emphasized the importance of bringing HIV and AIDS experts together.

“We want to identify the key components of knowledge that people need to have in order to effectively structure policy to address HIV in the military,” Agan said.

The HIV infection rate in many other countries is significantly higher than the United States, institute officials said. Having a working relationship with leaders from other nations and a course like this helps build better awareness and hopefully increases prevention in those countries, said Col. Kerrie Lindberg, institute director.

A major focus and objective of the institute’s efforts to address awareness of the disease is force protection, particularly in countries that are hardest hit with HIV and AIDS, Lindberg said.

“As we deploy in to those areas, we will know what that country has in place as far as HIV and AIDS,” she said. “If we go in there to assist with a disaster, we will know what types of issues to be aware of.”

Working together with foreign military leaders also was a large part of the conference. An address given by Kenyan Maj. Gen. J. M. Mutwii highlighted the efforts being made to fight the spread of HIV and AIDS in Kenya. Many countries in Africa deal with infection rates in the military as high as 40 percent, Mutwii said.

“The enemy is not the person with the disease, but the virus within them,” Mutwii said.

The stigma associated with HIV and AIDS took center stage for a day when a panel of former and current active-duty airmen with HIV sat on a panel together to speak about their experiences.

“We wanted to address the stigma of HIV with direct firsthand knowledge from people in the military living with the disease,” said Col. (Dr.) Matt Dolan, institute chief of medical operations. “Having these stories told to the conference attendees really sent a message about how (the U.S. military) deals with infected troops.”

Currently, nearly 150 airmen with HIV serve on active duty and many have remained in their original job, Agan said. Even though there is a very low rate of incidence of HIV in the military, the goal is still zero, he said.

In 2002, President George W. Bush declared the HIV and AIDS a threat to the strategic interests of the United States. The doctrine calls for using the military as an integral part of engagement of the problem worldwide.

“This course allows the military to fulfill the doctrine that the president has dictated,” Dolan said. Because the effects of high HIV rates erode the government of stable countries, the concern is that they could collapse and become failed states unless the destructive effects of the disease are addressed head on, he said.