Duke doctors treating AIDS in Tanzania

Andrew Moon’s guest column in the Herald Sun focuses on Dr. John Bartlett’s work in Tanzania.

Every morning scores of HIV-positive patients wait to be seen in a crowded hallway at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center (KCMC) here. Nestled close to Africa’s tallest peak, Mt. Kilimanjaro, the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center is hosting several doctors from Duke University Medical Center as part of a global research and clinical collaboration started in 2001 to produce regionally relevant research.

On a recent day, a young woman struggled to walk into a small, concrete-floored office in the internal medicine department at KCMC. She grimaced as she took a seat and faced Dr. John Bartlett, a Duke infectious disease specialist.

The scarring that covers her head and upper back suggests shingles, which are strongly linked with HIV, and the associated pain is indicated by a hunch in the woman’s posture. Her fatigue shows as she explains through the interpreter that night sweats, fever and constant pain have prevented her from a full-night’s sleep for months.

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