USAID's GHFP implemented by PHI
Over the last couple of years, I’ve begun to realize the crucial role acronyms and initials play in global health and medicine. The entire language sometimes just looks and sounds like alphabet soup, but it’s something I’ve been adapting to. For example, when talking about HIV/AIDS-related areas (Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Aquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), you’ll no doubt come across PMTCT (Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission), VCT (Volunteer Testing and Counseling), PLWHA (People Living With HIV/AIDS), ANC (Antenatal Clinic), GBV (Gender-Based Violence), OVC (Orphans and Vulnerable Children) and ARVs (Antiretrovirals), among many, many others. Then, there are the more medically oriented terms, such as the possible OIs (Opportunistic Infections) that can affect people living with HIV/AIDS: PJP (Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia), SJS (Stevens-Johnson Syndrome), IRIS (Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome), and CCM (Cryptococcal Meningitis).
Here in Kampala, the presence of foreign assistance agencies and humanitarian groups presents another whole stack of letters: DFID (Department For International Development – UK), DANIDA (Danish International Development Agency – Denmark), GIZ (Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit – Germany), PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief), IRCU (Inter-Religious Council of Uganda), PSI (Population Services International), and FHI (Family Health International).
Oh, the letters
When our supervisor from Washington D.C. came to visit a few weeks ago, she showed that she was a pro in this language, spewing letters left and right while we all stared at her blankly. She would speak about FSOs (Foreign Service Officers), HTLs (Health Team Leaders), MDs (Mission Directors), PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers), and who knows what else. But even she admitted to not knowing all the terms – she recently went to a conference where everyone was throwing around the term FFATA. Apparently, it stands for the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act.
And of course, I’m here working for USAID’s (United States Agency for International Development’s) GHFP (Global Health Fellows Program) implemented by PHI (Public Health Institute) in partnership with HSPH (Harvard School of Public Health), MSI (Management Systems International), and TUSPHTM (Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine).
