In April 2009 a team of two nurses and one doctor from London visited Tripoli to undertake two 2-day training workshops for nurses on HIV/AIDS.  The two workshops were held at the Tripoli Medical Center (TMC)  (1450 beds, largest hospital in Africa) and the Jala Hospital for Women and Children. Funding was made available from St Stephen’s AIDS Trust and the Libyan National Centre for Infectious Diseases Prevention and Control.

The training workshops had been planned following a visit to Tripoli in 2007 by Dr Mark Nelson, Trustee of SSAT, when the issue of stigma towards HIV infection was raised as an important barrier to effective medical care for people living with HIV in Libya.

At each centre the workshops consisted of day focusing on the history and origins of HIV, transmission of HIV, testing for HIV and occupational risk. The second day covered nursing and clinical aspects of caring for people with HIV. Both workshops were well attended and well evaluated. The scores for the tests administered before and after the workshops improved at both centres.

The team were also pleased to be able to visit the HIV treatment unit at TMC and discuss the local situation with the dedicated team of doctors and nurses. This visit allowed us to better place the workshops in the local context having had the opportunity to meet with patients and staff to discuss the clinical aspects of care as well as improving our understanding of the medical and nursing care and issues faced by the staff.

The team were well supported throughout our visit and would like to express our gratitude to the members of staff from the Libyan National Centre for Infectious Diseases Prevention and Control for their hospitality and support.