In The Battle Against Pediatric AIDS, How EGPAF Saved Lives Using Microsoft BI?
EGPAF (Egyptian Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation) is a well-known international Non-Governmental Organization(NGO) dedicated to the treatment and prevention of Pediatric HIV. After the exceptional advances in the medical field, most people in developed nations see HIV/AIDS as a manageable and preventable disease, and no longer an emerging universal or an end of life for those who are infected. But in the universal battle against pediatric HIV/AIDS, the scenario and numbers are different.
With Microsoft’s effective Business Intelligence and analytics tools and the efforts of its staff, EGPAF is identifying new methods to utilise data in the journey to achieve an AIDS-free generation. Approximately 2.5 million children are living with HIV across the globe, and around 600 children become infected. In the absence of treatment, close to 50 percent of HIV infected children die before they reach their second birthday, and nearly 80 percent die by the age of 5. Besides, countries like the US show supportive numbers with a 95 percent drop in new pediatric HIV infections, and throughout the world, it is 58 percent.
Data Appeals Better Decisions:
For EGPAF, the number holds great significance. It begins with some clear data: 90 percent of HIV infected children were infected through mother-to-child transmission during childbirth, pregnancy, or breastfeeding. ART(Antiretroviral Therapy) is the key to arresting the progression of HIV and transmission of the virus in people who are hitherto infected. The risk of transmission can be reduced to 2 percent when ART is given to HIV infected women during pregnancy and breastfeeding, and infants get this treatment after birth.
Until now, daily, in the drive of EGPAF support,
- How many infants and pregnant women were tested for HIV?
- Among the tested, how many are positive?
- How many infected people took ART?
- What are the numbers for each clinic, district, and country?
These are some of the data points that were gathered with painstaking actions.
According to higher officials of EGPAF, the timeliness and precision of this data are crucial for them for various reasons. Despite discussing their success stories, what helps EGPAF more is showing and reporting this data with clear proof to their funding agencies and partners, both government and private. In addition to this, clear data reporting helps EGPAF staff in areas such as public policy, research, communications, advocacy, and sometimes in managing human resources. Clear data helps in all stages of an organization in achieving its goals. After realising the essence of data presentation and reporting, the informatics staff of EGPAF came to understand that data can be presented and gathered in more impressive methods in analyzing and preparing reports with the right technologies and tools for making better decisions.
