This December, three local acupuncturists will be traveling to Uganda to train local health care providers in the use of acupuncture to treat HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis. The trip is sponsored by the Pan African Acupuncture Project (PAAP), which has been sending trainers to Uganda on a regular basis since 2003.
HIV is a major problem in many African countries; sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 67% of all people worldwide living with HIV, 91% of new infections in children, and 72% of AIDS-related deaths. HIV can be well controlled with effective (though toxic) medication, but many people in Africa have no access to these life-saving drugs.
Richard Mandell, the founder of PAAP, was also one of the founders of the AIDS Care Project (ACP) in Boston in the 1980s. ACP was started in a time when little to no medical help was available for people with AIDS; acupuncturists felt compelled to address this health crisis, and over the years learned an enormous amount about the effectiveness of acupuncture for treating HIV symptoms, slowing the progression of the disease, and ameliorating the side effects of HIV medications.
The aim of PAAP is to bring this low-cost, low-tech health care resource to countries such as Uganda. Using a manual developed by PAAP, volunteers train local health care providers how to use simple, effective acupuncture protocols to treat patients with HIV. Protocols are also included for malaria and tuberculosis, which are major health concerns in Uganda as well.
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