The HIV Pandemic: Research challenges to improve prevention, support and care
Course offered :
- Current semester
- Next semester
Current programmes of study
| Number of credits | 5 |
| Course offered (semester) | Spring |
| Schedule | Schedule |
| Reading list | Reading list |
Language of Instruction
English
Pre-requirements
A bachelor´s degree in medicine, dentistry or related disciplines of science or social sciences. Good working knowledge of English.
Students admitted to a Masters´ degree Programme may join this course (e.g. TropEd Europe network). Proficiency in English (TOEFL score of at least 550 points paper-based or 213 points computer-based, or an equivalent approved test).
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course students should be able to
- demonstrate knowledge and understanding about basic bio-medical facts on HIV, including diagnostics, status and prospects of vaccine development, the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and HAART;
- demonstrate understanding of the epidemiological contexts of HIV and categorise the main methods used in surveillance and research such as survey systems for HIV prevalence estimations in different settings;
- demonstrate the understanding of socio-economic and cultural contexts of HIV epidemics and relate them to preventive, support and treatment challenges;
- compare global patterns of HIV transmission, their possible explanations and relate them to preventive approaches being demonstrated to be effective;
- demonstrate understanding of demographic impact (e.g. mortality, fertility), social impact and economic impact (e.g. macro, micro) of HIV epidemics;
- debate priority setting challenges related to HIV interventions and key ethical issues involved;
- debate HIV-related counselling approaches and perspectives;
- debate issues related stigma, denial and confidentiality;
- differentiate roles of media in HIV prevention including documentary films, educational films and cultural-specific films.
Contact Information
Centre for International Health
Tel.: + 47 55588571; e-mail: studie.cih@uib.no
Course offered (semester)
Spring
Language of Instruction
English
Course Unit Level
Master and PhD
Access to the Course Unit
International programmes and agreements; Master´s programme in International health; Master´s programme in Oral Sciences; Master's programme in health sciences - Health promotion; Master of Philosophy in Health Promotion; PhD - Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry.
Aim and Content
The course is multi-disciplinary and focused on both biological, socio-cultural and public health issues. The scope is global, but with particular focus on sub-Saharan Africa. The the main topics are:
- The HIV pandemic: dynamics and trends, epidemiological approaches; status and trends of the HIV epidemics in the world: contrasts in spread and the search for their explanations
- Social interpretation and demographic impact; the social inter-pretation of HIV/AIDS; social impact; stigma, denial and confidentiality
- Current bio-medical understanding: virus(es) and disease: diagnostics, natural history, opportunistic infections, the prospects of vaccine development and principles of antiretroviral therapy; prevention of mother-to-child transmission
- Integrating prevention and support/care; social-cultural context; gender and age-related vulnerability in economically poor contexts; rural vs. urban contexts; reaching the young: school-programmes, out-of-school youths, youth friendly services; the ethnic-cultural context; counselling approaches and perspectives; the issue of orphans
- Cost-effectiveness and priority setting; cost effective prevention and care interventions; criteria for priority setting.
- Economic impact; knowing what works; economic impact; monitoring and evaluation systems to guide multisectoral HIV/AIDS programs
- Media and HIV; the role of media: documentary films, educational films, cultural-specific films.
- Ethics and HIV
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course students should be able to
- demonstrate knowledge and understanding about basic bio-medical facts on HIV, including diagnostics, status and prospects of vaccine development, the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and HAART;
- demonstrate understanding of the epidemiological contexts of HIV and categorise the main methods used in surveillance and research such as survey systems for HIV prevalence estimations in different settings;
- demonstrate the understanding of socio-economic and cultural contexts of HIV epidemics and relate them to preventive, support and treatment challenges;
- compare global patterns of HIV transmission, their possible explanations and relate them to preventive approaches being demonstrated to be effective;
- demonstrate understanding of demographic impact (e.g. mortality, fertility), social impact and economic impact (e.g. macro, micro) of HIV epidemics;
- debate priority setting challenges related to HIV interventions and key ethical issues involved;
- debate HIV-related counselling approaches and perspectives;
- debate issues related stigma, denial and confidentiality;
- differentiate roles of media in HIV prevention including documentary films, educational films and cultural-specific films.
Pre-requirements
A bachelor´s degree in medicine, dentistry or related disciplines of science or social sciences. Good working knowledge of English.
Students admitted to a Masters´ degree Programme may join this course (e.g. TropEd Europe network). Proficiency in English (TOEFL score of at least 550 points paper-based or 213 points computer-based, or an equivalent approved test).
Teaching Methods
Interactive presentations by lecturers, group work, literature review, student presentations, panel and group discussions and individual written assignment (essay/paper).
Assessment methods
Group work presentations (weighted 0.3), panel discussions (weighted 0.3) and preparation of an essay/paper (weighted 0.4).
Grading Scale
Pass/Fail
Reading List
Literature:
1. Report on the global HIV/AIDS epidemic 2002. UNAIDS, hard copy (can also be downloaded from http://www.unaids.org)
2. AIDS epidemic update, December 2003. UNAIDS, hard copy (can also be downloaded from http://www.unaids.org)
3. Scientific papers
4. Handouts
Place of Teaching
Centre for International Health
Course Unit Evaluation
Students evaluate the teaching according to the quality assessment requirements of the University of Bergen. The evaluation method is through an online questionnaire (My Space).
Contact Information
Centre for International Health
Tel.: + 47 55588571; e-mail: studie.cih@uib.no