AIDS EDUCATION AND TRAINING CENTERS PROGRAM
 he AIDS Education and Training Centers (AETC) Program of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act supports a network of more than 11 regional centers (and more than 130 associated sites) that conduct targeted, multidisciplinary education and training programs for health care providers treating people with HIV/AIDS. The AETCs serve all 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the six U.S. Pacific Jurisdictions. The AETC Program increases the number of health care providers who are effectively educated and motivated to counsel, diagnose, treat, and medically manage people with HIV disease, and to help prevent high-risk behaviors that lead to HIV transmission.
PROVIDER TRAINING
Training is targeted to providers who serve minority populations, the homeless, rural communities, incarcerated persons, and Ryan White CARE Act-funded sites. AETCs focus on training primary health care clinicians (physicians, physician assistants, nurses, nurse practitioners, dentists, pharmacists); training activities are based on assessed local needs. Emphasis is placed on interactive, hands-on training and clinical consultation to assist providers with complex issues related to the management of highly active antiretroviral therapy. AETCs collaborate with CARE Act-funded organizations, area health education centers, community-based HIV/AIDS organizations, and medical and health professional organizations. During the 2005-2006 grant year, more than 118,760 participants attended AETC training events. Clinicians trained by AETCs have been shown to be more competent with regard to HIV issues and more willing than other primary care providers to treat people living with HIV disease.
NATIONAL CENTERS
Several national, cross-cutting components of the AETC program support and complement the regional training centers. In 1999, the National Minority AIDS Education and Training Center (www.nmaetc.org) was established with funding from the Congressional Black Caucus Minority AIDS Initiative to benefit minorities who are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS. Working with the schools of medicine of historically black colleges and universities, the center offers clinical consultation and support to minority providers, builds networks among those clinicians, and expands educational resources to increase the number of minority clinicians providing quality care to people who are HIV positive.
Other program components include the National Resource AETC, the National Evaluation AETC, and the National HIV/AIDS Clinicians’ Consultation Center. The resource center is a Web-based HIV/AIDS training resource (www.aids-ed.org) that supports the training needs of the regional AETCs through coordination of HIV/AIDS training materials, rapid dissemination of late-breaking advances in treatment and changes to treatment guidelines, and critical review of patient education materials. The evaluation center is responsible for program evaluation activities, including assessing effectiveness of the AETCs’ education, training, and consultation activities. The National HIV/AIDS Clinicians Consultation Center (www.ucsf.edu/hivcntr) has three national hotlines for healthcare providers: (1) timely responses to clinical questions related to treatment of persons with HIV infection (·WARMLINE·: 800-933-3413); (2) perinatal HIV consultation and referrals (888-448-8765); and (3) how to respond to possible health care worker exposure to HIV and other blood-borne pathogens (PEPline: 888-448-4911).
The FY 2006 appropriation for the AETC program was $34.7 million. |
AETCs (as of August 2006)
AETC National Centers
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