AIHA SUPPORTS

the healthcare workers of the world in our battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.

AIHA has been building capacity of the global health workforce for almost 30 years.

AIHA’S VISION

is a world with access to quality healthcare for everyone, everywhere.

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AIHA EMPOWERS

health systems to meet today’s public health challenges

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AIHA DELIVERS

health sector solutions that yield measurable, sustainable results.

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AIHA BUILDS

fit-for-purpose health workforce capacity to improve access to care.

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HEALTH SYSTEMS STRENGTHENING MATTERS

16 million

Lives are lost prematurely each year globally due to NCDs

5.4 million

Children under the age of 5 who died in 2017 – almost 15,000 each day

38 million

People worldwide are living with HIV

18 million

Projected global shortfall of trained health workers by 2030

These statistics from the World Health Organization are a wake-up call for us all.
The numbers are alarming as they stand, but it’s important to remember that each one represents someone’s child, parent, sibling, friend, or neighbor. It’s equally important to recognize that in today’s hyper-connected world, a public health threat in one part of the world can all too quickly become a public health threat everywhere in the world.

Our Partnership Model

What is Twinning?

Voluntarism is at the heart of our partnership model. It’s what makes AIHA’s technical assistance programs so cost-effective, often leveraging an in-kind match that can double the funding level for a project. Our partnership model recognizes that communities must develop a strong sense of ownership to achieve successful, sustainable outcomes.

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Don’t let the term “volunteer” fool you

Our Partners Are Rock Stars!

AIHA volunteers who are part of an institutional twinning partnership are seasoned health and allied care professionals, many with 30+ years of hands-on experience and practical knowledge to share with their peers in the developing world. They are eager to collaborate with their overseas partners to develop practical, sustainable solutions to public health challenges.

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OUR IMPACT

50,000+

Health and social service workers trained in sub-Saharan Africa

300+

U.S. hospitals, universities, NGOs, and other institutions engaged in development projects

770,000+

Primary school pupils in Kenya reached with a school-based HIV prevention intervention

40,000+

Clinicians and first responders in Eurasia trained in emergency medical services

32,500+

Adolescent girls and young women in Kenya supported through DREAMS

6,500+

Health workers in Eurasia trained in client-friendly HIV/AIDS services

Featured Media

Bringing Social Support Services to Vulnerable Children in Rural Parts of Colombia

Colombia’s government is committed to providing social support services to the country’s children – and to past generations of young people affected by long-term violence and unrest – but delivering the targeted assistance needed by families living in rural...

WE'RE MAKING A DIFFERENCE. YOU CAN HELP.

One of the most remarkable things we’ve learned over the past two decades is that the experience of working together with like-minded peers to achieve tangible, sustainable change engenders a lot of goodwill. Our partners on both sides often say their work through twinning has been one of the most rewarding things they’ve ever done. AIHA’s Friends, Family, and Alumni Network is an exciting new way to contribute to AIHA’s health systems strengthening projects around the globe. If you’re a past or current partner, a long-time supporter, or someone who simply believes in the wisdom of the African proverb: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together,” please consider supporting AIHA’s flexible, collaborative, and needs-driven approach to international development.

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“The nature of the twinning model… working so closely with our exact counterparts over several years and developing these long-term professional and personal relationships is something that is just not possible with any other form of technical assistance.”

– Dr. Joseph Masci, former Director, Global Health Institute, NYC Health + Hospitals / Elmhurst Hopsital Center, New York

“Global health has seen tremendous progress around the world and building health systems capacity is paramount to sustain those gains and support countries’ aspiration for universal health coverage. AIHA’s important and timely mission aligns precisely with existing development needs.”

– Dr. Ariel Pablos-Méndez, Professor of Clinical Medicine, Columbia University Medical Center, former Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Global Health, USAID (2011-2016)

“When I was CEO and Vice Provost of the St. Paul Hospital Millennium Medical College, I experienced first-hand the value of an AIHA-led twinning partnership that strengthened our pre- and in-service training capacity in the field of obstetrics and gynecology. As Minister of Health, I continue to see the invaluable contribution AIHA has made over the past decade to improve the capacity of our country’s institutions, resulting in better health outcomes.”

– Dr. Lia Tedesse Gebremedhin, Minister of Health, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

“AIHA has a long history of working with a broad range of stakeholders in LMICs to strengthen local health system capacity and train health workers to provide quality, equitable healthcare services. They work hand-in-hand with their partners – from the Ministry of Health down to grassroots community-level organizations – to develop sustainable solutions across a wide array of health concerns and healthcare disciplines.”

– Dr. Muhammed Ali Pate, Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare of Nigeria;, former Julio Frenk Professor of the Practice of Public Health Leadership at the Harvard University TH Chan School of Public Health; former Global Director for Health, Nutrition and Population and Director and Director of the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents, The World Bank.

“More important than all the other positive professional and institutional improvements that have resulted from our partnership with Elmhurst is how our work together brought about a shift in thinking both at our hospital and in our community.”

Dr. Fiseha Tadesse, Medical Director Debre Berhan Referral Hospital, Ethiopia

“With support from AIHA’s Twinning Center, our partners at Liverpool VCT helped us to develop and implement a Counselor Supervision Training Program, so our HCT counselors can work more effectively. Supervisors help counselors become more aware of the way they affect – and are affected by – their clients.”

Ms. Boineelo Diseko, Counselor Supervision Coordinator, Tebelopele VCT Center, Botswana

“I have benefitted greatly not only from the training, but also the one-on-one mentoring provided at AIHA-supported Nursing Leadership Development workshops conducted by US experts through the Tanzania Nursing Initiative.”

Stephen Kibusi, Head of Nursing Management, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Tanzania

“Investing in pre-service education is a time-consuming process. It requires long-term investment to make sure that the system runs smoothly and the program is sustainable. We’re grateful for our twinning partnership with Howard University and our collaborative capacity development efforts to ensure we build a critical mass in the face of Ethiopia’s severe shortage of trained healthcare workers.”

Dr. Ephrem Engidawork, Associate Professor of Pharmacology, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia

“The beauty of this sort of institution-to-institution partnership is that it effectively leverages the knowledge, expertise, and voluntarism of the US heath sector to strengthen both the human resources and organizational capacity of their counterparts.”

The Honorable Pamela E. Bridgewater, former US Ambassador to Jamaica

“Evaluators found a number of factors leading to partnership success. In-country partner ability to leverage within their institutions, communities, and with national governments was also evident in the emergency medicine, pharmacy, and clinical associate partnerships. In cases where the in-country partner lacked sufficient access, the Twinning Center was able to leverage its prestige to assist with advocacy.”

AIHA HIV/AIDS Twinning Center Program Evaluation The QED Group, LLC

“Thank you for the opportunity of having served as the Project Officer for the Twinning Center Program since 2013. Invariably, I have found AIHA’s staff to be impressively skilled, responsive, supportive and highly professional. I’ve been honored to have worked with you in all aspects of the HIV/AIDS Twinning Center Program.”

Richard C. Poole, Former Project Officer, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Health Systems Strengthening Branch, Division of Global Programs