CDU Advantage Comes to Lusaka, Zambia with the RISE UP! HOUSE
CDU Advantage Comes to Lusaka, Zambia with the RISE UP! HOUSE
In January 2018, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science( CDU) initiated a collaboration in Lusaka, Zambia with members of the Zambian Ministry of Health, the Medical Director of Chawama District Hospital and other HIV specialists at the hospital to conduct a needs assessment of the Chawama catchment area. The“ Rise Up!” program was born from this collaboration.
COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
The program is operated in partnership with the Global Health HBCU Consortium that includes the Howard University, Morehouse, and Meharry Schools of Medicine. Each institution has a unique project designed to help improve healthcare quality in Zambia.
The overarching goal of“ Rise Up!” is to reduce HIV infection rates among 15-24 year-old adolescent girls and young women( AGYW) in Zambia, a group that has been left behind as progress in reducing HIV in other age groups has been achieved. Dr. Lejeune Y. Lockett, CDU Director of International Affairs, stressed the importance of the project, stating,“ The Rise Up! Project is a unique effort in Zambia to provide health services and encouragement for newly diagnosed young girls and women to feel accepted and supported in a non-clinical environment. This will also be a model from which our CDU students can learn more about ways to address health care disparities in other parts of the world.”
During the week of September 16th, Wilfredo Lopez, Jr., Finance Manager, and Program Assistant Erin Johnson conducted a Program Assessment Training and a PrEP & Empowerment Workshop with the Peer Navigators and about 30 Rise Up! Girls. The activity secured feedback regarding lessons learned and the team began to develop signature activities that can be replicated at other hospitals during the scale up phase between 2019-2022.
The CDU team also includes Dr. Deborah- Prothrow-Stith, Dean, College of Medicine; Dr. Denese Shervington, Chairperson, Department of Psychiatry; Dr. Lisa Barkley, Director, Family Medicine Residency Program; and Dr. Jacqueline Allen, Clinical Assistant Professor, Family Medicine Department.
POSTSCRIPT
During the CDU team’ s recent October 23rd visit to RISE UP! Lusaka at its official launching, US Ambassador Lewis Foote and Esther Kungu, First Lady of Zambia, paid a visit. They were accompanied by Zambian Ministry of Health officials. The First Lady donated 10,000 Kwacha( ZMW), the equivalent of $ 750, in support of the Rise Up! program.
Rise Up! is sponsored by HRSA and PEPFAR.
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