Education and Research > International Partnerships

International Partnerships

The BHIVA International Partnerships Working Group (IPWG) is a sub group of the BHIVA Education and Scientific Subcommittee.

Its role is to develop international links for BHIVA and respond to requests for BHIVA members to speak at international meetings. Speakers are allocated according to areas of expertise, speaking experience and in order to represent the BHIVA membership nationally. Speakers can be from all disciplines working in the HIV field and can also include doctors in training who wish to gain international speaking experience.


Coronavirus (COVID-19) update

Our International Partnerships work is currently on hold due to COVID-19. We are sending best wishes to all our international collaborators and those working so hard both in the UK and overseas to better understand and treat this infection. We hope to be offering new scholarships in 2021, and we look forward to working with you all more closely again in the future.


Membership

Chair

  • Dr Douglas Fink

Vice Chair

  • Dr Nadia Ahmed

Members

  • Dr Tristan Barber

  • Ms Florence Bascombe

  • Dr Sanjay Bhagani

  • Dr Fiona Burns

  • Prof Sarah Fidler

  • Prof Saye Khoo

  • Dr Ranjababu Kulasegaram

  • Prof Mark Nelson

  • Dr Karen Rogstad

  • Prof Caroline Sabin

  • Prof Maryam Shahmanesh

  • Dr Katrina Stegmann

  • Dr Clare van Halsema

  • Prof Alan Winston


International Membership

This offers those in low- and middle-income countries an affordable way to access the benefits of BHIVA membership, including online access to the BHIVA journal HIV Medicine and the BHIVA e-learning modules.


Terms of Reference

Terms of reference for this working group are included in the Terms of Reference of the BHIVA Education and Scientific Subcommittee, available at: https://www.bhiva.org/file/HNguyOaEJFVMA/TermsOfReference.pdf


Activities

"HIV: tackling morbidity and mortality"

Educational meeting held in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, as collaboration between BHIVA, National AIDS Control Programme of Pakistan and Pak Emirates Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, 15-16 November 2019

The BHIVA International Partnerships Working Group has collaborated with the National AIDS Control Programme of Pakistan and the Pak Emirates Military Hospital, establishing a 2-day educational meeting on HIV, held in Rawalpindi. Three BHIVA speakers: Dr Fiona Burns, Dr Tristan Barber and Dr Clare van Halsema, attended and spoke at the meeting. High-level speakers included the UNAIDS programme lead for Pakistan and Afghanistan Dr Filio-Borromeo; head of NACP Dr Quaid Saeed; Lead for NACP in Sindh province, Dr Saqib Sheikh.

Pakistan is a middle-income country, with population around 200 million. HIV prevalence is low, with an estimated 150,000 people living with HIV, of whom only 15-20% diagnosed and 8% are on antiretroviral therapy. Incidence is increasing, with epidemiology consistent with an Asian epidemic, with highest incidence and prevalence in key risk groups. Well publicised healthcare associated outbreaks of HIV have involved many children.

Through existing links with Pak Emirates Military Hospital (three consultants in general internal medicine have spent 6 months each training in infectious diseases at North Manchester General Hospital), an educational meeting was established for military and clinicians, public health professionals, trainees and undergraduates.

With speakers from collaborating institutions, plus non-government organisations and tertiary hospitals, topics covered included epidemiology, key populations, WHO guidelines, TB/HIV coinfection, routine and targeted testing and prevention.

BHIVA is in ongoing contact with PEMH and NACP, aiming to collaborate further on activities to benefit people living with HIV and people at risk of HIV in Pakistan.

Pictures:


International speakers

In 2018-2019 we provided speakers to the Kenyan HIV conference and to a TB course in Myanmar, as well as to HIV Congress, Mumbai, India.


BHIVA/Gilead International Exchanges

In 2018 we established the BHIVA/Gilead International Scholarship Programme. These awards, generously supported by Gilead, provided funding a for a successful UK applicant to develop an educational exchange programme with a partner from a low/middle income country setting.

Awardees in 2019 were:

  • Dr Ffion Carlin, Mortimer Market Centre - ‘Ending the HIV epidemic: shared experiences around capacity building, innovative care delivery and increased health surveillance focused on improving care pathways for key populations at risk of HIV in both the UK and Ukraine in the post SARS-CoV-2 era’

  • Dr Harriet Daultrey, Brighton and Sussex University Hospital - ‘An opportunity to explore and compare the methods used for diagnosing and managing diabetes in people living with HIV in Zambia and UK’

Awardees in 2018 were:

  • Dr Alastair Duncan, Kings/South Africa - Supporting healthy ageing in HIV

  • Dr Ewan Hunter, Newcastle-Kilimanjaro HIV Partnership

  • Dr Diarmuid Nugent, Enhancing care pathways for HIV prevention and sexual health care in men who have sex with men in Georgia

  • Dr Padmasayee Papineni, Vellore-London Exchange

Further rounds of international awards are now on hold due to COVID-19. We hope to be able to offer more of these in future.


Current MOUs


Further information

For further information on any activities of the IWPG please contact the Chair, Dr Doug Fink or the BHIVA Secretariat at [email protected].