News Releases

New diploma offers online courses in HIV treatment

For Release Upon Receipt - April 24, 2014

St. Augustine


ST. AUGUSTINE, Trinidad and Tobago – Toward the end of 2012 there were 35.3 million people across the world living with HIV. It has affected millions and remains one of the most challenging diseases to manage. Since the beginning of the epidemic, almost 75 million people have been infected with the HIV virus and about 36 million people have died of HIV, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).   In the Caribbean, an estimated 250,000 persons are living with HIV (UNAIDS 2013 Global Fact Sheet).   

A new UWI graduate course offers a global approach to the pan-epidemic. The University of the West Indies (UWI) St. Augustine Campus has partnered with the International Training and Education Center for Health (I-TECH), University of Washington, Seattle, USA, and the Caribbean HIVAIDS Regional Training Network (CHART) to offer a Diploma in the Management of HIV Infection.   

The part-time, one year, blended learning programme offers courses in HIV treatment online as well as in the classroom. Students have the flexibility to access the course material from “anywhere in the world and at any time, while learning about the latest health care for HIV, from experts in the field,” Programme Coordinator, Professor Zulaika Ali explained recently. 

The enhanced delivery will ensure that the graduate course is more accessible to those throughout the region by maximizing access for professionals working in the public sector, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and commercial organizations locally and regionally. Medical doctors, pharmacists and dentists, as well as nurses with bachelor degrees from any recognized university; registered nurses with a minimum of three years of experience; social workers; management staff from government ministries, private sector and NGOs; as well as tutors and lecturers in training institutions will find the course extremely beneficial. 

Relevant General Regulations of The UWI Board of Graduate Studies and Research apply and the general prerequisite for entry into the Diploma is a Bachelor’s Degree in the health-related sciences or appropriate social sciences from an approved university, with at least a lower second-class standing (or equivalent qualification and work experience).

Last year the first cohort of students graduated, and applications are currently being accepted for admission into this novel regional programme which aims at improving the quality of life for those living with the HIV virus. The deadline date for registration is July 18 and classes for the new semester begin on September 8, 2014. 

Apply now at www.sta.uwi.edu/admissions/postgrad/apply.asp   

 

For more information please contact Professor Zulaika Ali, Child Health Unit, Building 69, 1st Floor, EWMSC, Tel/Fax 662-9596

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About The UWI

Since its inception in 1948, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has evolved from a fledgling college in Jamaica with 33 students to a full-fledged, regional University with well over 40,000 students. Today, UWI is the largest, most longstanding higher education provider in the Commonwealth Caribbean, with four campuses in Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Open Campus. The UWI has faculty and students from more than 40 countries and collaborative links with 160 universities globally; it offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology and Social Sciences. UWI’s seven priority focal areas are linked closely to the priorities identified by CARICOM and take into account such over-arching areas of concern to the region as environmental issues, health and wellness, gender equity and the critical importance of innovation.  

(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.) 

For the latest UWI News, click http://sta.uwi.edu/news.

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