Training Courses in HIV/AIDS Surveillance
Aimed at increasing the capacity of participants in developing and implementing HIV/AIDS surveillance systems, training courses are constantly adapted and updated to follow the new developments and research findings in the area of HIV/AIDS surveillance. Courses aim to introduce participants to specific areas of HIV/AIDS surveillance by emphasising the acquisition of practical skills and multi-disciplinary approach to surveillance systems development. By bringing together professionals with multidisciplinary backgrounds from various countries, courses also provide an opportunity to share knowledge and experiences.
Training is based on adult learning principles, skills acquisition and field work and is delivered using a combination of five-day intensive, face-to-face workshop sessions and in-country support visits. All courses have an international and comparative orientation and integrate a mix of lectures, case studies and group work. Throughout the teaching, an emphasis is put on activities and actions that make surveillance efforts successful, ranging from good organisation and staff selection to successful collaboration between health and non-health sectors and building trust with communities and groups at higher risk of HIV.
There are currently 16 training courses and training manuals developed, covering various areas in HIV surveillance. The training courses have been attended by over 600 participants from 60 countries in Europe, North and Central Africa and the Middle East. Each of the training courses is extensively evaluated and the results are analysed and used to improve course content and organisation.
The teaching staff includes well-established professionals who work on HIV/AIDS surveillance and have both academic and field experience. The teaching staff comes from the School of Public Health, Croatia; University of California, San Francisco; London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK; Health Protection Agency, UK; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Croatia; WHO; UNAIDS; Teaching Hospital for Infectious Diseases „Dr. Fran Mihaljevic“, Croatia; Institute for Public Health, Croatia; Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Germany; UNDP Office, Croatia
The audience for the training courses are:
Professionals who work on HIV/AIDS surveillance
Professionals who work on HIV/AIDS programme management
Government officials responsible for planning and implementation of HIV/AIDS surveillance and prevention policies and services
Other key stakeholders from NGOs, academic institutions and educational organisations
Private sector
The objectives of the training courses are to:
Increase capacities of participants in development and implementation of HIV/AIDS surveillance systems and surveys
Introduce participants to the broad field of theory and practice of HIV/AIDS surveillance, with the emphasis on the newest biological and behavioural methods used
Provide a practical overview of methods and approaches used in surveillance data collection, analysis and reporting
Describe the importance of dissemination of HIV/AIDS surveillance data to providers and institutions responsible for implementation of HIV/AIDS prevention and control programmes
Build skills through case studies and a protocol development exercise
Assist participants in applying the course contents in their countries
