Monday, December 3, 2012

IAPAC Changes Name to International Association of Providers of AIDS Care


In a move designed to formally acknowledge the contributions of various cadres of professional and paraprofessional providers of HIV/AIDS care, an international association that represents more than 17,000 members, primarily HIV-treating physicians, today announced it has changed its name to the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC).

"Throughout our history, IAPAC has recognized, supported, and facilitated the delivery of HIV prevention, care, and treatment via multidisciplinary approaches that take into account a 'team dynamic' involving clinicians and lay-providers as well as people living with HIV/AIDS," said IAPAC President Dr. José M. Zuniga. "Our new name reflects a more formal recognition of that dynamic and will allow us to support and facilitate its enhanced implementation across the HIV prevention and clinical management continuum."

Since 1987 the Physicians Association for AIDS Care (PAAC) and its successor, the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care (IAPAC), have advanced medical- and patient-oriented education, technical assistance, and global health initiatives worldwide. In addition, both played critical roles in advocating the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS, as well as the expansion of access to quality HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, and viral hepatitis prevention, care, and treatment.

"IAPAC-past and IAPAC-future has at its core a mission to improve the quality of services provided to people at risk for and living with HIV/AIDS and co-morbid conditions," explained IAPAC Founding Chair Rabbi Allen I. Freehling. "We will continue to do so, on behalf of our members and the millions of individuals to whom they deliver services, by battling complacency and advancing commitment almost three decades into the global HIV pandemic."

While its various initiatives were designed for a variety of clinical and lay providers, moving forward the re-named IAPAC will officially represent a broader range of healthcare providers.

Advising the IAPAC Board of Trustees and its Senior Management Team on future directions will be a Health Professions Advisory Council (HPCA). The HCPA will be comprised of physician-, nurse-, pharmacist-, psychologist-, peer educator-, and other IAPAC members, and will be co-chaired by two IAPAC Trustees: Dr. Julie Barroso, a nurse-practitioner and Professor of Nursing at the Duke University School of Nursing in Durham, North Carolina, USA; and Dr. Chinkholal Thangsing, a physician who serves as CEO/President of the Touch of Hope Foundation in New Delhi, India.

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