PharmAccess mobilizes public and private resources for the benefit of doctors and patients through clinical standards and quality improvements, loans for healthcare providers, health insurance, mHealth innovations and operational research.
Their supervisor was prof. dr. Tobias Rinke de Wit. Both their thesis focus on an under-recognized, emerging public health problem in resource-limited countries: HIV drug resistance, a potential threat to the worldwide control of HIV/AIDS.
The past decade has witnessed an unparalleled expansion of access to antiretroviral treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. This historic public health achievement has saved the lives and improved the well-being of millions of people. To build capacity and study the extent of HIV drug resistance in the sub-Saharan African region, the “PharmAccess African Studies to Evaluate Resistance” (PASER) network was established in 2006, a collaborative partnership of HIV treatment sites and laboratories in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Both their thesis contain data obtained by PASER network. The network has received financial support from the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Aidsfonds, NWO-WOTRO/NACCAP and De Grote Onderneming. Kim Sigaloff’s and Raph Hamer’s thesis both present the results of landmark research on the epidemiology, diagnostic strategies, clinical management and public health implications related to emerging HIV drug resistance in sub-Saharan Africa. Raph Hamer’s thesis was awarded Cum Laude.
Read more on the thesis of Raph Hamers ‘Drug-resistant HIV-1 in sub-Saharan Africa: clinical and public health studies’ here.
Read more on the thesis of Kim Sigaloff ‘HIV drug resistance among adults and children in sub-Saharan Africa’ here.
A symposium was organized in the AMC on February 6th on HIV drug resistance.
