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Mission
Background
Capacity Building
Curriculum & Implementation
Collaborations
Reference Corners & Resource Materials
Accomplishments
Monitoring & Evaluation
The KITSO AIDS Training Program provides quality, multi-disciplinary, sustainable and standardized training in HIV and AIDS care, crafted specifically for Botswana’s health professionals. KITSO is a collaboration of the Botswana Ministry of Health and the Botswana-HAI Partnership for HIV Research and Education, made possible through support from the African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships.
The name of this program was designed to incorporate the culture of Botswana and to capture the groundbreaking nature of this collaborative educational effort. While English is the official language of Botswana, the language of Setswana is an important element of the country’s proud heritage. In the title of the program, "kitso" is the Setswana word for "knowledge." KITSO AIDS also stands for "Knowledge, Innovation, and Training Shall Overcome AIDS."
In the face of the growing HIV threat—identified by then
President Festus Mogae as a national crisis—in 2001, the
Government of Botswana announced that it would
provide antiretroviral (ARV) therapy free-of-charge to
qualifying patients. This initiative, at the time without
precedent in Africa, posed significant challenges to
Botswana’s already overburdened public healthcare
system, especially in terms of personnel, infrastructure,
and training.
Conceptualized through private seed
funding, the KITSO AIDS Training
Program was established in 2001. It is
the Botswana Ministry of Health’s
national training program for HIV/AIDS
treatment and care. KITSO was initially
conceived, developed, and implemented
through a collaboration between the
MOH and the Botswana–Harvard AIDS
Institute Partnership for HIV Research
and Education (BHP).
In order to offer more training
opportunities for healthcare
professionals in Botswana, the KITSO
AIDS Training Program was expanded in
2004 to include the expertise of
additional partner organizations. Within
this enlarged framework, BHP’s KITSO
Program (KITSO-BHP) continues to
provide high quality, multi-disciplinary sustainable, and standardized training to help healthcare
workers understand and apply the Botswana national
HIV/AIDS care and treatment guidelines.
KITSO-BHP’s training efforts are made possible
through the financial support of the African
Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships (ACHAP), a
collaboration between the Government of Botswana, the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and The Merck
Company Foundation/Merck & Co., Inc.
Since its inception, KITSO-BHP has worked under the leadership of the MOH to increase local staff capacity within the healthcare sector and ensure the sustainability of HIV/AIDS care and treatment.
When ARV therapy was first introduced in Botswana in 2002,
few physicians in the country had experience in AIDS
treatment. Through KITSO training and front-line experience
in the ARV clinics, healthcare professionals in Botswana have
gained the expertise and confidence to both provide ARV
therapy and train other healthcare workers at their treatment
sites. KITSO–trained staff now provide ARV therapy at 33
hospital sites and 137 satellite clinics throughout the country,
and currently serve over 130,000 patients enrolled in the
national ARV program.
KITSO-BHP has developed a module-based training
curriculum, which is tailored to the Botswana National HIV/
AIDS Treatment Guidelines. The curriculum has been
collaboratively developed and is regularly updated by national
and international experts to ensure that healthcare professionals
gain competency and confidence in the latest national standards
of HIV/AIDS care and treatment.
Curriculum development and course implementation have
been driven by the immediate need to train otswana’s
healthcare workers in HIV/AIDS care in formats that provide a
comprehensive grounding in good clinical practice without
requiring long periods of staff release for training.
As mandated by the MOH, KITSO training modules are the national standard of training for HIV/AIDS care and treatment in both public and private sectors. The KITSO-BHP team oversees the standardized training implementation, curriculum development, updating, course examination and certification.
AIDS Clinical Care Fundamentals
Since its first offering in July 2001, AIDS Clinical Care
Fundamentals has served as a gateway course to prepare
Botswana’s healthcare professionals to provide basic ARV
therapy and other HIV/AIDS care. Training is carried out using
either a facility-based or centralized format, depending upon the
staffing needs of individual healthcare facilities. Between July
2001 and December 2009, 7078 healthcare workers completed
this module. Following four days of lectures and case study
discussions, the course concludes with a final examination.
Participants who meet course requirements as determined by the
MOH receive a certificate of successful completion.
Since 2006 KITSO-BHP has been implementing distance
learning as an alternative training format utilizing an audioenhanced
CD ROM of AIDS Clinical Care Fundamentals. Distance
learning participants receive a training package including the CD
Rom, course binder and support materials for their self studies.
A one day classroom training activity where clinical scenarios
pertaining to the learning objectives of the course are discussed
as well as a final assessment concludes the distance learning
experience.
Topics covered in AIDS Clinical Care Fundamentals:
1. Introduction to the Botswana National ARV Program
2. HIV Epidemiology and Pathophysiology
3. Laboratory Diagnostics in HIV/AIDS Care
4.
Principles of ARV Therapy in the Botswana National
Program
5.
Pediatric-and Adolescent-Specific Issues in HIV/AIDS
Care
6.
Pediatric-and Adolescent-Specific Issues in HIV/AIDS
Psychosocial Care
7. ARV Drug Side Effects and Toxicities
8. Drug-Drug Interactions in ARV Therapy
9. Treatment Failure and Its Management
10. Adherence in ARV Therapy
11.
Adult and Pediatric Opportunistic Infections and Other
Complications in HIV Disease
12. Mother-to-Child-Transmission and Its Prevention
13. Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP)
14. TB and HIV Co-Infection
15. Summary of the Major Changes in the 2008 Guidelines.
AIDS Clinical Care Fundamentals Refresher/Update
This two-day Refresher/Update training module was developed
in response to a high demand for refresher training, as well as the
need to update already trained healthcare staff on the most
recent changes to the national treatment guidelines.
Incorporating information from the new guidelines along with
care and treatment fundamentals, the training covers HIV
testing, ARV therapy eligibility, principles of ARV therapy,
management of toxicities, management of treatment failure,
PMTCT, and treatment of TB and other opportunistic
infections.
The module was first implemented in January 2008. All efforts will be made to re-train healthcare workers as quickly as possible in order to maintain the high standard of HIV/AIDS care and treatment in Botswana.
Medication Adherence Counseling
This three-day course is designed to enhance the adherence
counseling skills of healthcare workers. Offered as a centralized
training for nurses, pharmacy staff, and social workers from
ARV treatment centers, Medication Adherence Counseling focuses on
strategies to overcome potential barriers to adherence.
A combination of lectures, case discussions, role-playing, and
interactive activities are employed to reinforce good counseling
techniques and strengthen the participants’ ability to devise and
implement successful adherence interventions. Implemented in
collaboration with the Botswana-Baylor Children’s Center of
Excellence, the course also includes teaching and case
discussions about pediatric and adolescent adherence, as well as
disclosure of HIV status for children, adolescents, and their
families
Advanced HIV/AIDS Care and Treatment
This advanced training is designed for physicians and
pharmacists providing ARV therapy in Botswana. Course
participants must have previously completed AIDS Clinical
Care Fundamentals and be actively involved in an ARV clinic.
Advanced HIV/AIDS Care and Treatment combines lectures
and interactive case discussions to provide advanced and
comprehensive training in ARV therapy, emphasizing
treatment principles and strategies practiced world-wide
and applying them to the Botswana setting. This course
familiarizes participants with the full complement of ARV
drugs and provides strategies for the management of
treatment failure, interpretation of drug resistance assays,
designing of “salvage” regimens, and understanding short
and long-term ARV side effects and toxicities. Course
content equips clinicians with the skills and knowledge
necessary to manage complicated patients and provide
guidance and support to their colleagues, thereby
strengthening the growing HIV treatment expertise in
Botswana’s healthcare sector.
Advanced HIV/AIDS Care and Treatment covers adult, adolescent, and pediatric HIV care. Special emphasis is placed on primary care for HIV-infected children and on disclosure issues, especially in regards to children and adolescents.
Each advanced course also provides updates on relevant research and clinical trials conducted internationally and in Botswana as well as summaries of recent international HIV/AIDS meetings.
Introduction to AIDS Clinical Care
In 2009 this satellite training module was upgraded from a
one-day to a two-day training. The training provides nonmedical
professionals with a basic understanding of
identification and management of HIV/AIDS in Botswana.
Course content includes an introduction to HIV pathophysiology and immunology and information about testing, eligibility and referral for ARV therapy, identification of common ARV side effects, the importance of medication adherence, counseling and referral for PMTCT, and post-exposure prophylaxis. This course is suitable for general health educators, family welfare educators, and lay counselors and social workers. Since 2006, Introduction to AIDS Clinical Care has been implemented at ARV sites by the BHP–PEPFAR Master Trainer Program.
Sexual and Reproductive Health in HIV Infection
This new module provides training for health
professionals providing counseling and care in sexual and
reproductive health issues for persons living with HIV.
The course will empower health care workers to identify
and manage sexual and reproductive health issues
pertaining to HIV infection, such as STI’s, family planning
including conception and contraception, sexual
dysfunctions, menopause, pregnancy and PMTCT, and
HIV prevention. Implementation of this module will
start in 2010.
KITSO-BHP has established “reference corners” in the
medical libraries of Botswana’s two referral hospitals,
Princess Marina Hospital and Nyangabgwe Hospital.
Resources in these reference corners include textbooks,
medical reference guides, specialized journal subscriptions,
and relevant handbooks and guidelines.
KITSO-BHP has also provided each district hospital in Botswana with a laptop computer and an LCD projector for in-service staff education.
KITSO-BHP owes its success both to ACHAP for its
financial support and to the dedicated faculty members
from the Botswana MOH and Ministry of Local
Government, the ACHAP Clinical Preceptorship
Program, Botswana-Baylor Children’s Clinical Center of
Excellence, BHP, University of Pennsylvania, the
PEPFAR Master Trainer Program, the Private Practitioner
Association of Botswana, and the World Health
Organization.
While much remains to be done, KITSO-BHP takes pride in the work that has been accomplished in training healthcare professionals in Botswana. KITSO-BHP commends the leadership of the MOH, the commitment of Botswana’s healthcare workers, the support of stakeholders and collaborators, and the dedication of the KITSO faculty and team for making such achievements possible.
Accomplishments include:
• Development, implementation, and updating of
standardized training curricula which reflect Botswana’s
current HIV/AIDS treatment and care guidelines
• Continued didactic training support for treatment teams
from ARV sites
• Establishment of KITSO Reference Corners in
Botswana’s two referral hospitals
• Provision of training equipment to all district hospitals
• Orientation of incoming preceptors and international
mentors
• Development of AIDS Clinical Care Fundamentals CDROM
for distance education
From its inception, KITSO-BHP has carefully incorporated monitoring and evaluation tools into its training formats to assess the quality and integrity of the program’s structure, content, and implementation. This commitment to assessment and evaluation has allowed the KITSO-BHP program to quickly adapt to changing national healthcare guidelines, stakeholder advice, faculty and participant feedback, and the recommendations of external evaluators.
A Long-Term Evaluation was conducted in 2006 to assess the impact and reach of KITSO-BHP training. Site leaders from 17 ARV sites were interviewed, and 494 former course participants completed survey questionnaires and knowledge assessments. The final evaluation report was released by the MOH in January 2008.
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