再聯繫 通訊 （心繫扶輪）2009年11月發行
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擴大通往衣索比亞健保之路
By Peter Schmidtke
Rotary International News -- 6 November 2009
3520地區2007-2008
學年度文化大使獎學生陳珮馨Betty
衣索比亞打擊HIV愛滋病毒的抗戰在二月獲得大力支持，原因在於該國政府高層衛生官員同意在私人醫療診所提供病人抗反轉錄病毒藥品。
Ethiopia's fight against HIV/AIDS received a boost in February
when the country's top health ministry officials agreed to allow
private health care clinics to provide patients with
antiretroviral medicines.
官員在與美國國際開發援助署（USAID）的包商會面時達成協議。代表包商的凱斯琳•波爾（Kathleen
Poer）是扶輪大使獎學金前受獎人。
The officials reached the agreement during a meeting with a
contractor for USAID.
Representing that contractor was former Rotary
Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar Kathleen
Poer.
她說：「我可以瞭解這個複雜議題的各個面向，因為我瞭解文化背景，仔細傾聽衣索比亞同仁的建言，並思索當地的規範會如何影響會議。」
"I could navigate this complex policy issue because I understood
the cultural milieu, listened carefully to the advice of my
Ethiopian colleagues, and tried to think about how local norms
would influence the meeting," she says.
自2007年以來，波爾任職於Abt
Associates，這是全球最大的政府與企業研究諮詢公司之一。波爾試圖將美國國際開發援助署為期五年的私部門計畫用在HIV和肺結核上，目標為增加私人醫療提供者的能力，藉以透過公私部門的合作伙伴關係來提供服務。
Since 2007, Poer has worked in Ethiopia for Abt Associates, one
of the world's largest government and business research and
consulting firms. She manages USAID's five-year Private Sector
Program for HIV and Tuberculosis, which aims to increase the
capacity of private health care providers to deliver services
through a public-private sector partnership.
波爾是美國科羅拉多人，當她到衣索比亞時，她致力於一項在職場預防與治療肺結核與HIV的現有計畫，並拓展一項先導計畫，將肺結核與HIV服務整合到私人診所裡。Abt
Associates成功完成先導計畫，將肺結核治療擴及20間私人診所後，她監督100多間拓展服務的診所。
When Poer, a native or Colorado, USA, arrived in Ethiopia, she
worked to strengthen an existing program for the prevention and
treatment of TB and HIV in the workplace and to expand a pilot
program to integrate TB and HIV services into private-sector
clinics. After Abt Associates completed a successful pilot that
introduced TB treatment to 20 private clinics, she oversaw the
expansion of care to 100 more clinics.
波爾說：「增加肺結核發現病例的一種方法是讓更多地方提供肺結核診斷服務。」她負責的肺結核擴增醫療服務，原本只有在政府經營的診所才算合法。「對肺結核來說更是如此，因為它就像把人烙印記號一樣，人們可能會去到沒人認識他們的診所就診。」
"One way of increasing case detection is to have more sites
providing TB diagnosis services," says Poer of the expansion of
TB care, which had been legal only in government-run clinics.
"This is particularly true with TB because it is stigmatized and
people may prefer to go to a clinic where they are not known."
此外，波爾監督地方醫療提供者組成的活動小組，他們走出帳棚，與社區診所和衛生局合作，一同提供HIV測試與咨詢服務。從2007年六月到2009年六月，該小組協助了超過十萬人。
Additionally, Poer has overseen mobile teams of local caregivers
who operate out of tents and cooperate with community clinics
and health bureaus to provide HIV testing and counseling
services. From June 2007 to June 2009, the teams helped test
over 100,000 people.
她說：「我想我們很快就把觸角伸到很遠，你可以看到政府部門的態度在這段時間大大不同，變得更為開放。」
"I think we've gone pretty far pretty fast, and you can see the
attitude of the public sector changing dramatically during that
time to greater openness," she says.
在波爾搬到衣索比亞前，她在Abt
Associates工作了18年，改善阿爾巴尼亞、埃及、約旦、哈薩克、吉爾吉斯坦、俄國和烏茲別克斯坦的健保系統。
Before moving to Ethiopia, Poer spent 18 years working for Abt
Associates to improve health care systems in Albania, Egypt,
Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Uzbekistan.
她在1985-86年由美國科羅拉多Durango扶輪社贊助，到新德里的尼赫魯大學（Jawaharlal
Nehru University）擔任文化大使。波爾與幾個扶輪社志願參與了數個服務計畫，包括裝置高效率能源的爐具，和發展增加鄉村收入的管道。她也參與了小兒麻痺免疫計畫。
She studied as a 1985-86 Ambassadorial Scholar at Jawaharlal
Nehru University in New Delhi, sponsored by the Rotary Club of
Durango, Colorado, USA. Poer volunteered with a number of clubs
on service projects, including installing energy-efficient
cooking stoves and developing avenues of rural income
generation. She also participated in polio immunization
campaigns.
波爾說：「身為外國人，要前往貧窮鄉村參訪是很困難的事。」「除非有扶輪社友的參與，否則根本不會這麼做。他們對計畫有活絡的網路，我試著盡量跟他們一起去。正因我在印度的經驗，使我想要在發展的領域工作。」 |
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