By
Shipra Shukla
William L. Holzemer, associate dean of international programs in the UCSF School of Nursing, and Purnima Madhivanan, a former UCSF and UC Berkeley graduate student, each have been recognized separately for their international work in combating HIV/AIDS.
Holzemer, RN, PhD, Lillian and Dudley Aldous Endowed Chair in Nursing Science, Department of Community Health Systems, UCSF School of Nursing, received the International Distinguished Leadership Award from the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools on Dec. 3.
Purnima Madhivanan, PhD, was honored in South Africa on Nov. 29 by the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation for her contributions to global health.
Addressing Stigma and Gender Inequities
Holzemer is being recognized for the breadth of his international work. His research on HIV in Africa includes a five-year project, now in its final year, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Fogarty International Center, titled "Perceived AIDS Stigma: A Multinational Study." Holzemer and his research team have been looking at how stigma associated with the disease changes the quality of a person's life. Their focus has been on nurses and individuals living with HIV in Africa.
"Nurses are the recipients of stigma because they care for those living with HIV," said Holzemer. "And the patients themselves are also stigmatized as a result of the societies they're operating in."
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William Holzemer at the Distinguished Leadership Award Ceremony in Philadelphia. |
The research was conducted in five African countries: Lesotho, Swaziland, Malawi, South Africa and Tanzania.
The International Distinguished Leadership Award was presented at a two-day symposium, "Building Global Alliances in a World of Healthcare Inequities," in Philadelphia. Stephen Lewis, commissioner of the World Health Organization's Commission on the Social Determinants of Health and senior adviser for health and human rights at the Harvard School of Public Health, was the keynote speaker at the event.
"Our global alliance has two purposes: one, improving the lives of people living with HIV, and the second, to collaborate and capacity-build nursing faculty for doing collaborative research together," Holzemer said.
The focus of the symposium links to UCSF's mission of
advancing health worldwide™ and its vision of addressing health disparities, which is listed in the UCSF Strategic Plan. Holzemer sees addressing global health inequities as directly connected to global gender issues.
"When you talk about gender, you're really talking about a global alliance from a mega-level," he said. "If we don't devote the energy to deal with the gender issue, global health will never be possible. For instance, almost all of the United Nations' millennium development goals are related to women."
In linking the gender issue to nursing, Holzemer said, "Nursing is also very interestingly a gender issue, because it's mostly women in the profession in most of the world. As a result, many of the gender inequities - issues of control of work practice, inadequate work environments, violence in the work setting - are part of the concerns of the global alliance for gender equity. Most people don't link gender inequity to nursing, but I think when you live in it, it's so obvious."
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Purnima Madhivanan receives International Leadership Award at a ceremony in Johannesburg, South Africa. |
An Emerging Leader
Madhivanan was among three individuals presented with the International Leadership Award by the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. The foundation, led by Pamela Barnes, established the International Leadership Awards in 2002 to provide financial resources to the next generation of researchers, physicians and public health professionals leading the fight against pediatric AIDS in the developing world.
The expectation is that awardees will establish programs that alter the course of pediatric AIDS in their home nations. Countries served include Cameroon, Haiti, Jamaica, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa and Uganda, with India and Gambia added to the list this year.
"This year's recipients are accomplished and dedicated individuals whose work promises to make a real difference in the lives of families in their nations and in the larger battle against pediatric AIDS," said Barnes. "Dr. Madhivanan's program will help countless families in Mysore, India, and we're delighted to recognize and support her efforts."
A key theme in Madhivanan's research is an analysis of reproductive health and the spread of HIV infection in India. Her research included collaboration with Christina Lindan, MD, a former UCSF faculty member now at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on an NIH-supported study of sexual behavior and sexually transmitted infections among men at high risk for HIV infection in Mumbai, India.
Madhivanan credits UCSF's Women's Global Health Scholars program, which she participated in over the past year, as instrumental to her success. The program is an example of UCSF's strategic vision "to educate future leaders."
Related Links:
School of Nursing Tackles HIV/AIDS in Africa
Women's Global Health Scholars Create Great Possibility
