Are you PeerSMART?

Some friends have asked what the heck I actually do in Uganda. Every day I have a different answer. But, one thing I am helping do is jump start a peer educator program, called PeerSMART (Peer Supporter and Mentor for AntiRetroviral Therapy). The premise is that people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) on ART will benefit from having some of their peers as frontline service providers to promote drug adherence and monitor for illness and medication side effects. These peers may then help ameliorate the large health care provider deficits found throughout the developing world.
Photo: Inaugural PeerSMART class of the Rakai Health Sciences Program. Taken March 2006.