THE COMMENDED PROGRAM

BD's innovative community partnership with the International Council of Nurses (ICN) and national nurses associations in sub-Saharan Africa tackles the needs of a unique and essential group-healthcare workers in endemic regions-with a unique solution: Dedicated wellness centers that provide them with HIV and TB services, and much more.

Healthcare workers are on the front lines of the fight against disease, and as a consequence are at high risk for infection by HIV and TB. Working closely with ICN and nurses on the ground, BD is ensuring that wellness centers support those healthcare workers-including nurses, physicians, pharmacists, laboratory and other technicians, maintenance and kitchen staff and their immediate family members. The Wellness Centers for Health Care Workers are critically important in maintaining a healthy, motivated health workforce.

Beginning in Swaziland (where more than 80 percent of the health workforce has been reached) and now expanding through sub-Saharan Africa, this healthcare worker program has also been supported by the U.S. Office of Global AIDS Coordination and nursing associations in Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS

Strengthening Healthcare Workforce
BD's partnership strengthens critical health systems, not only ensuring that healthcare workers are themselves healthy, but also equipping them with the tools and knowledge to better combat HIV and TB. The program is also estimated to help reduce the drain of qualified healthcare workers out of Africa-in the year following the initiative's first phase in Swaziland, no nurses left Swaziland for work abroad.

Targeting Mental Health
The Wellness Centers for Health Care Workers don't just focus on the physical well-being of healthcare workers-they also provide them with psychological support. What's more, wellness centers are known by healthcare workers as "safe spaces" and send an important message to often-stressed healthcare workers: They are valued and will be cared for.