Hello All,
Today was my first official day of work. It started at the Ministry of Health where I learned about the issues related to HIV scale up. I also visited one site where 80% of the HIV positive “Trinnies” receive their care. There is a push to decentralize treatment from this one site in the North (Port of Spain) as its not feasible for all of the patients in to obtain treatment there. There are many roadblocks that have been encountered in the process. I met with the pharmacist today that works in the clinic that treats 4000 patients today, who was very nice and knowledgeable about HIV and its treatment. 
Each clinic that I will be visiting seems to have its own set of issues in terms of scale up. Either they don’t know what patients are on what meds, the patients are on the wrong doses/combinations, or they don’t have any medications in stock so patients go without. I will be visiting the first of the clinics for the next couple days. Tomorrow morning I will leave for San Fernando, which is the second largest city in Trinidad and stay until Thursday.
Otherwise everything is going well. I have spent a lot of time with the other Clinton Foundation people here. They are very hard working and motivated. They spent most of the weekend working. We went to Chaguaramus (pronounced like only Austin Powers can) yesterday. Apparently it was a US military base in WWII. Now its a harbor with a yacht club. I was impressed to see many yachts from New England and Maryland parked in the harbor. Tonight we are going to dinner with Colleen who is the regional manager for the Caribbean and in town for a few days.
This weekend I think I am going to take a trip to Tobago!
Back to work for now…
so proud of you aim! t.
By: theresa on April 7, 2008
at 9:42 pm
Just keep telling yourself there’s no place like home….There’s no place like home…. We miss you a lot here and we are very proud of you!!! We know that you can provide a lot of good to people who really need it…. Georgie
By: Glhirsch@hotmail.com on April 7, 2008
at 10:56 pm
Feel free to use my yacht while you are there.
By: Gopal on April 8, 2008
at 1:24 am
Hi Hirsch! Take care down there. We miss you! Good luck with your presentations and with all the hard work it sounds like you have ahead of you. I’m so proud of you! Good job on the blogging
-Mielke
By: Amy on April 8, 2008
at 8:48 am
Just a teensie point here…yachts dock, rather than park. Use of the proper terms in the correct company can sometimes get you a ride (more properly called “a sail”. Remember: it’s dock not park; they’re lines not ropes; and never go sailing all alone with the local masher because it’s a long walk back to the harbor.
On another note, Federico had his baby over the weekend. The female Fellows are a little wild because we don’t know how long and how heavy, all Federico told them was that it was a boy and he was pink. So the big news today is that Federico is the brand new father of a pink baby boy.
By: Jan on April 8, 2008
at 1:28 pm
Amy – Glad things are going well. Make sure you stay safe. We think of you everday. All of the kids say hi and wish you good luck with everything you are doing. Cant wait to hear your stories when you get home. Love you.
By: Bill Hirsch on April 9, 2008
at 8:36 am
Newsflash! From the world of Infectious Disease. There’s a Dengue Fever outbreak in Brazil. 10,000 cases in Rio. So stay away from mosquitos who look like they’ve been hanging in Brazil. Of note, we don’t have Dengue in Cleveland. And did you know the lay term for Dengue is “breakback fever”.
By: Jan on April 9, 2008
at 4:30 pm
Oops. Correction. The lay term for Dengue is “breakbone fever”. The Editorial Board of this Bolgette regrets any confusion from that error. On another note, I am officially drunk with power. A Clinical Pharmacist contacted me with a question because she couldn’t find you. Ha! So there! And yes, I made up the answer.
By: Jan on April 9, 2008
at 5:30 pm