The World Health Organization (WHO) is committed to identifying, controlling, and eradicating diseases across the globe. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, it is comprised of representatives from across the world, including most Western Nations. One of the most significant battles the organization has had to face in the past two decades in the rapidly growing AIDS epidemic, which is most severe in African countries. Although the World Health Organization is devoted to working on these issues on a global basis, particular emphasis has been placed on Africa as it is the locus of more than half of the world’s population living with HIV/AIDS.

This proposed project will seek to center the World Health Organization’s approach to combating the African AIDS epidemic by making the distribution and methods of prevention more streamlined and accessible to the population most in need. Much of the problem with the World Health Organization’s previous approach to the problem was that there was a disorganized infrastructure and lack of vital elements such as trained workers and efficient leaders. While this still plagues the organization, the inner turmoil within the group is taking up valuable time in the battle against HIV/AIDS in Africa. What must happen first is a focused and direct mission to prevent the spread of the disease while in the background the more institutional changes are taking place.

This project will involve two fronts; one will be working in Africa on culturally instituting new ways of thinking about HIV/AIDS transmission among indigenous groups while the other front will be in Geneva, working out the structural problems that have prevented progress in this area in the past. The main focus of the project proposal will be to revise the way the World Health Organization introduces preventative measures in Africa. By starting anew with a culturally aware program, they will achieve greater success while institutionally, the more general management kinks are being worked out to provide greater strength and efficiency to the organization as a whole.

One of the most important aspects to the World Health Organization’s battle against HIV/AIDS in Africa is finding a way to efficiently take precautionary measures to ensure that the spread of the virus is minimized, if not altogether eliminated. Unfortunately, this has never been an easy task for the WHO because of a number of factors, including the sheer vast size of Africa (in terms of land mass to cover) as well as the staggering population. Shortages of health care workers have been a persistent issue and this problem has continued despite increased funding within the past several years. While the organization has made significant strides toward improving the dire situation, progress has never been quite what was planned. Each passing year’s reports indicate the vital goals have not been met and proposals have not been followed through with. For instance, “The World Health Organization fell short of its target to provide antiretroviral therapy to 3 million people by 2005 because of roadblocks such as inadequate leadership at the national level in several countries, a severe shortage of health care workers, lack of necessary funding and a pervasive stigma against people living with HIV/AIDS” (Ennis 2006). This is a rather large list of problems to contend with and one cannot reasonably expect to have them all solved within a day or two of project overhauling, but the course seems clear.

First of all, there needs to be a great increase in the number of health care workers in the area. This might involve higher pay and perks for those professionals willing to travel to an often dangerous location, and although we may wish that they would go out of a sense of altruistic duty, this is not always the case. There must also be a complete renovation of the power structure within the organization, but again, this is a long-term project that must involve the votes and decisions of the many member nations. Despite these wide-ranging problems, the biggest issue of all has been virtually ignored—how to provide the best possible preventative measures for those already living in Africa and at risk for becoming AIDS victims. While the internal changes are being made, the first step is to begin fresh with a new mission in Africa that involves prevention within its cultural context. What this means, in essence, is that the WHO should strive to understand African culture and base its strategy for HIV/AIDS prevention upon this fact. One of these first cultural understandings we must face is that condom use is not something that is widely accepted in Africa and although the WHO has spent millions trying to educate about their use, the male sexual culture remains opposed to condom use. Again, this should be the first element of the project plan. In the background, structural changes (in leadership and international policy as well as the hiring of new health care workers for the region) should be taking place on an a more broad and institutional level.

Culturally sound policies for introducing HIV/AIDS prevention are important and vital to the success of the World Health Organization’s battle against the deadly virus. Although this may sound like a vague concept at first, we must realize that condom use is treated differently in Africa than it is in many Western countries. The World Health Organization has decided that “encouraging men to use condoms is not enough. They work, but many men dislike them and women, especially very young ones, often lack the sexual bargaining clout to insist. Instead, the WHO believes, pharmaceutical companies could have still-to-be-perfected microbial vaginal gels or sprays on the market within two years-if they are given a bit of a push” (Stanley 2003). Although these gels and sprays have yet to be put on the market as a result of structural changes in WHO and international policy (as well as certain blockages and problems resulting from Western pharmaceutical companies) getting such products into the marketplace is a must. The new mission statement for the organization should have a “shoot first, ask questions later” approach, which means that they should simply make as much of the preventative medicine as possible, distribute it immediately, and worry about the policy and cost at a later time.

For instance, if the cost of these drugs could prevent at least 10,000 new cases, there would eventually be less health care workers needed on site. To make this organization truly effective, the first step must be this new “gung-ho” approach to dissemination of prevention. In order to implement this, the only measure is eliminating the red tape of the international organization and dealing directly with the pharmaceutical companies that can get these products out immediately. The companies that can do the testing and research required in the most timely fashion would win the contract to provide Africa with a potentially life-saving product and presumably, all parties involved would attain their goals. One such product is the HIV/AIDS prevention gel, which is “A safe and effective gel to allow women to protect themselves from the AIDS virus [and] may be available by 2010 if trials involving thousands of women are successful” (The Australian2006). The trials are underway and the company involved with the research is one of the first to consider mass marketing the product at low prices, thus they should win the contract.

The scope of this project will be absolutely enormous. In terms of the institutional overhaul, that may take several weeks or even a year to fully correct. The structural problems, however, take a backseat to the main issue of combating HIV/AIDS in an efficient way and thus this plan will involve only prompting researchers to test these new products (that don’t require male condom use) and mass producing them in a timely yet safe manner. Again, the initial cost may be high, but the lives that will be saved will allow the WHO to fulfill its goals of ensuring the health of so much of the world’s population while eventually allowing them to pay less and less money to the health care workers who are now sent to the region to preach about condom use. The scope of the project seems a bit less optimistic when we think of the sheer size of Africa. Both the land mass itself as well as the population is staggering and to disseminate these products will not be an easy task. The goal will be to set up centers throughout Africa, almost like bases, from which workers can spread out in a radius and teach Africans about new methods of AIDS prevention as well as pass out the products. The results might not be immediate, but the success will be imminent once all of the regions of Africa have been touched by this new plan.

The two best practices in project management involve the complete overhaul of the structural components of the organization. This will involve a complete change in leadership from the top-down based on these solutions for combating the AIDS epidemic in Africa. As many roadblocks as possible must be removed in order for this plan to be successful and with the internal strife that has been a hallmark for the organization, there is little choice. In terms of the second practice of project management, there will be a concentrated effort to work according to a five-step plan. No step can be ignored or passed and they all must come one after another. In this case, the first step will be to set the stage for institutional change and a new mission statement. The second step will be to meet with pharmaceutical companies that are willing to jump on board with this plan. The third step will be to see to it that clinical trials and product research is conducted in a timely yet thorough fashion. The fourth and fifth steps involve getting the product and disseminating it through the means of the “bases” discussed earlier. By following these two practices in project management, one of the deadliest diseases in Africa can be halted. With careful planning and strict adherence to these goals, there is little cause to think such a proposal will fail to become reality.

Other essays and articles in the Main Archives related to this topic include : The Effect of an Epidemic on the Funeral Industry: Cholera and Gastrointestinal Outbreaks    •   Biomedical Ethics and God: A Lack of Universals    •    A Hypothetical SARS Pandemic and Its Projected Effect on the Funeral Industry   •    Profile of Tokyo in the Context of Globalization

Works Cited

Arias, Donya C. (2005). WHO target on HIV/AIDS drug treatment unlikely to be met. Nation’s Health,35(7), 10

Ennis. (2006). World AIDS Day marks need to keep advocating for treatment. Nation’s Health, 36(1).

Stanley. (2003). A woman’s right not to get killed. Economist, 329(7839), 51

(2006). Aids gel trials offer hope to women. The Austrailian. April 25.