{"id":5314,"date":"2010-10-28T10:52:24","date_gmt":"2010-10-28T09:52:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=5314"},"modified":"2010-10-28T10:52:24","modified_gmt":"2010-10-28T09:52:24","slug":"ed-cooper-just-do-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2010\/10\/28\/ed-cooper-just-do-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Ed Cooper: Just do it!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I think our role is quite well covered by the slogan for sports footwear: &#8220;Just do it!&#8221;\u00a0 It\u2019s satisfying to sit beside a doctor who is not a paediatrician but a gynaecologist \u2013 he\u2019s been assigned the children\u2019s HIV clinic in this small provincial hospital.\u00a0 He is reading from the slim, precise manual on how to treat HIV in children as he goes \u2013 and it works.\u00a0 Sick children have grown from their last visit, their hair thickens and shines, their dull, sandpapery skin starts to become smooth and to glow, their faces become more animated and they talk, laugh, and learn.\u00a0 The doctor might be a bit grumpy at getting this job, which he never asked for, but he\u2019s doing it well.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>As a UK doctor, I\u2019m contented being a part of CHIVA Africa. I can\u2019t talk about the impossible despair of it all. I go to South Africa, expenses subsidised, for a week or so, to meet colleagues.\u00a0 We chat, boost morale, exchange information.\u00a0 I learn a lot from my African colleagues of all professions \u2013 it really is an equal exchange.\u00a0 And the kids \u2013 they seem to be doing all right once they\u2019re treated, there\u2019s nothing to pity there.<\/p>\n<p>I am proud of the equity and mutual respect in the exchange that has been CHIVA Africa.\u00a0 It is something to brag about.\u00a0 If it\u2019s change management you want, well that\u2019s what we do.\u00a0 From a few hundred children on treatment to over 40,000 in six years (see <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2010\/09\/28\/thilo-govender-what-about-the-children\/\">Thilo Govender\u2019s earlier blog<\/a>): that\u2019s change.\u00a0 Not imported into KwaZulu Natal by the beneficent CHIVA Africa, but systemic change from within.\u00a0 And systemic change depends on systemic exchange.\u00a0 All closed systems need to open out and reconfigure themselves, and the respectful team of colleagues with a different set of experiences and knowledge is the agent to accelerate that.<\/p>\n<p>The problems of the HIV pandemic are not solved and new ones are emerging as fast as we can respond.\u00a0 But we must interact.\u00a0 It\u2019s a cause worth supporting.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Ed Cooper<\/strong>\u00a0is a recently retired consultant general paediatrician with UK NHS and international experience. Ed has been volunteering with CHIVA Africa since its inception in 2006 and co-coordinates the doctors group.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I think our role is quite well covered by the slogan for sports footwear: &#8220;Just do it!&#8221;\u00a0 It\u2019s satisfying to sit beside a doctor who is not a paediatrician but [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2010\/10\/28\/ed-cooper-just-do-it\/\">More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ed Cooper: Just do it! 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