Mission

Based on the premise that all people living with HIV in India deserve uniform quality care, the HIV Medicine Association of India is dedicated to optimizing health outcomes for people with HIV / AIDS through India-specific, evidence-based treatment management guidelines, training, research, and advocacy.

Who We Serve

HIV Medicine Association of India (HIVMAI) serves people living with HIV / AIDS — extending and improving the quality of their lives — by broadening physicians' capacity to deliver quality care.Physicians from various specialties are involved in caring for people living with HIV / AIDS, as there is currently no formal sub-specialty training in HIV Medicine in India. Few educational institutions offer a formal post-graduate training in Infectious Diseases. It is critical that all physicians interested in managing people living with HIV / AIDS have access to education and training.

How We Serve

India-specific, evidence-based guidelines

The founders and Board of HIVMAI believe that medical "science" — as expressed in rigorously formal trial data and published, peer-reviewed papers and presentations — should inform treatment standards and inform clinical practice. To that end, HIVMAI is committed to developing, publishing and promoting India-specific, evidence-based guidelines. This canon will grow over time and HIVMAI is committed to keeping all HIVMAI materials current.

Training

Formal, Continual Medical Education (CME) is not required for medical licensure in India. At worst this means that doctors treating patients are completely uninformed on current medications (and resistance patterns, etc.), as well as current clinical diagnostic practices (e.g., genotype testing). Even if medications or diagnostics tools are cost-prohibitive, the practitioner should know best practices and be prepared to advocate for their eventual application and use. At best, lack of CME requirements means that doctors are self-motivated to seek out training. HIVMAI reaches out to all doctors treating people with HIV / AIDS, and offers workshops, conferences, and robust online training. HIVMAI's board of directors represent a prestigious and capable "faculty," and we partner with HIVTRI to engage some the world's experts who come to India to help with training at our annual conferences as well as frequent regional workshops and symposium.

Research

HIVMAI has developed a proprietary clinical database which tracks hundreds of patients, according to commonly understood clinical markers as well as uniquely Indian attributes and observational data. From the data we observe patterns, which form research questions, which, in turn, represent opportunities for clinical trials. Contributors to the clinical database are carefully selected by our Board.

Advocacy

Based on their experience and reputation, HIVMAI board members have the opportunity to influence government and corporate policy with respect to HIV / AIDS. By partnering with patient and treatment advocates as well as other national and international NGOs, HIVMAI regularly meets with private companies (including insurance and pharma) and the government to discuss, for example, insurance companies' exclusion policies, drug pricing, government policies on 2nd line treatment, and ethical standards.