FRONTESPIZIO - Cooperazione Italiana allo Sviluppo

7. HIV and skin: an operational research (O.R.) in Tigray region, Ethiopia 107and STIs of health facilities in three selected study-weredas of Tigray andcompare the impact of the interventions in three control-weredas. Both theintervention and control weredas have been purposefully selected andmatched for the following criteria: climate and altitude, population size,number of health institution and health personnel, urbanity. In addition, theintervention and control weredas have been set apart to avoid contamination.The Italian Cooperation in Ethiopia is the prominent fund givers for theproject. The IISMAS Onlus-San Gallicano Dermatological Institute in Rometogether with the TMA and the Tigray Health Bureau are the implementingagencies. The project duration is two years from October 2005 to October2007.The methodology of intervention includes training of health workers (HealthOfficers, nurses and laboratory technicians) on skin diseases and STIs relatedwith systemic conditions, provision of low cost and sustainable laboratoryreagents and equipments, provision of basic medical supplies for the treatmentof skin diseases and STI, supportive supervision, data collection andanalysis. Base line cross sectional survey have been collected from the interventionand control weredas on knowledge and skill of health workers onskin diseases and STIs related with systemic conditions, health facility’s infrastructure,services and supplies. Ongoing report from the intervention andcontrol weredas will be collected on a structured data collection format andanalyzed at the time of initial survey, interim period and conclusion of the research.The intervention and control groups will be compared for impact usingoutcome measures such as knowledge and skill of health workers, numberof patients with STIs, skin diseases related with systemic conditions treated,cured and referred at the health facilities.During the first phase of the project we collected data on the top ten diseasesburdens, the health workers’ skills and the health furniture’s availability in thestudy and control weredas. After the training courses were conducted therewas the need to carry out monitoring and supervision of the performance ofthe Health Workers in the facilities where they work.In the three study weredas we’ve already registered some expected outcomesof the research such as an increased access to the health facilities in the interventionareas and the early detection of the commonest communicable disease.The data collected at the Italian Dermatological Centre show that halfof the patients with evocative skin lesions and/or STIs tested for HIV waspositive. The most common skin problems we observed in HIV positive patientswere infections including viral, fungal, mycobacterial and bacterial,