HIV/STD/Hepatitis

Project Title:

Prevention and Treatment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Hepatitis in Durham County

Project Co-Leads:

John A. Bartlett, M.D., Duke Global Health Institute / Infectious Disease Clinic
Arlene C. Sena, M.D. MPH, Durham County Health Department, UNC-CH Division of Infectious Diseases

HIV poster

Proposal Abstract:

This Duke-Durham Partnership Team will focus on infections with HIV, sexually transmitted diseases and hepatitis, leading causes of communicable morbidity and mortality in Durham County. These infectious diseases share common means of transmission, and are profoundly impacted upon by social stigma, lower socioeconomic status, mental health challenges and substance abuse.

Within this chaotic disease environment, testing and accessible, efficient care is frequently not available, resulting in delayed diagnosis, failure to benefit from treatment advances, expensive health care utilization, and the continuing spread of these diseases in our community.

Due to the confounding medical, sociocultural and economic factors, a robust and trusting relationship with the community is essential for success, and our Team has developed a detailed plan for fostering this relationship.

Our Team will provide an innovative and novel care model by coordinating and integrating services for this patient population. This unprecedented effort will include increasing the numbers of tested persons, and ensuring that all of those who test positive enter and remain in care through an aggressive program of community outreach. In addition, secondary prevention education will be targeted to decrease the continuing spread of these diseases.

Achieving these goals will result in decreased incidence rates, improved morbidity and mortality rates, and cost savings for health care systems. Careful documentation and evaluation of the proposed strategies and associated outcomes by this highly experienced research Team will inform the field of communicable diseases and public health, and will ensure the sustainability of these efforts.

HIV-STD-hepatitis Final-Report [PDF]

Publication

Kolman MR, DeCoster M, Proescholdbell RJ, Ankeny G, Bartlett JB, Sena A, “The increasing impact of HIV infections, sexually transmitted diseases and viral hepatitis in Durham County, North Carolina: A call for coordinated and integrated services”, NC Medical Journal. In press.

Grant

HCV Testing in Durham County Jail, awarded by GenenTech to the UNC Center for Infectious Disease in partnership with the Durham County Health Dept., $16,500 awarded 12/2010.