This website contains educational resources that are based on the UNESCO-recognised HIV and AIDS collections held by Lothian Health Services Archive (LHSA).

Rather than being complete lesson plans in themselves, these resources provide a range of suggested activities based on the collection items.

The resources are linked to the Curriculum for Excellence (S2 and S3) and are intended for use by teachers, youth groups and educational professionals.

The site contains resources, audio-visual material and images linked to the following subject themes: Expressive Arts, Social Studies, and Health and Wellbeing.

HIV antibody tests are specifically designed for routine diagnostic testing of adults; these tests are inespensive and extremely accurate. Most people develop detectable antibodies approximately 30 days after infection, although some seroconvert later. The vast majority of people (99%) have detectable antibody by three months after HIV infection; a six month window is extremely rare with modern antibody testing.

Although repeatedly exposed to HIV, Steve Crohn's blood cells were never infected. Dr. David Ho investigates in this video segment from NOVA: "Surviving AIDS."

This resource aims to spread the message that undetectable HIV viral load in the blood is untransmittable via sexual contact. 

At the time of the video, 60 cases of AIDs had been documented at KCMC, arriving at an ever increasing rate since the first case in 1984. While the issue is tragic, the video provides a fascinating insight into the situation “at the front-lines.” The idea of an epidemic is just beginning to be considered. Understanding of the situation is in its early phases: how long is the incubation? How exactly is it spread? How can we treat it? Will there be a vaccine? Who is at risk?

Unlike in Europe and the West, AIDs in Africa is a heterosexual illness. Victims are adults of both sexes in their sexual prime. Howlett says that most of the cases he has seen have come from urban centres. People are beginning to understand that the full impact of the disease is invisible, because of the long incubation time from infection to full-blown disease. The tragedy of transmission to new-borns is just beginning to be observed.

The only defence against dying of AIDS, is to use condoms. Blood screening is starting to be implemented in major centres.

This video’s intended audience was humanitarian volunteers in Europe, intending to come to Africa. Howlett tells them that they need to be clear about their responsibilities to themselves and their families. That they need to understand potential, long-term impacts of any decisions they make. It is not the same situation, he says, as it was for volunteers 5-10 years ago.

As a medically trained humanitarian, Howlett first travelled to Africa in 1980. From 1984, he began as a Ministry-appointed specialist physician at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center (KCMC), in Moshi, in northern Tanzania. He has remained closely associated with KCMC ever since. Learn more about Howlett’s experiences.

In the first video, from 1987, he describes the beginning of the epidemic with the first officially documented case of HIV-AIDS that was diagnosed at KCMC in March 1984. In the third video from 2018, he cites UNAIDS statistics from 2016, to underline the scope of the epidemic. In Tanzania, a country of 55 million people, 1.4 million are HIV-infected. The UNAIDS statistics further indicate that in 2016, it is estimated that there are 55 000 new HIV-infections and 33 000 AIDs-related deaths annually.

Just 2 years later, Howlett is interviewed again. It is interesting to note how much understanding of the epidemic has grown in the 2 years since his first interview. Research and reporting is increasing. Howlett says that Tanzania has reported 2 500 cases thus far to WHO.

Focus is being placed on Public Education measures. It is beginning to be understood, to use metaphors, that AIDs cases represent just the tip of the iceberg for a disease that has an incubation time as long as 7-8 years, or longer. The epidemic is spreading from the main concentration of cases in urban centres, where there are high levels of promiscuity. Such areas with prostitution, travellers, mobile populations create “whirlpools” of infection and may have rates of infection in these high risk population groups more than 70%. The infection spreads from these urban nodes to rural areas, spreading in “ripples”, as travellers return home to their families.

A highly specific blood test has been developed to ensure safer blood supplies, although, Howlett explains, this is not a major transmission route in Africa.

Howlett says that the difference between the AIDs epidemic in Europe and Africa is largely cultural. In the West, he says, there is less promiscuity. In Africa, promiscuity is more tolerated, especially in “travelling” communities of truck-drivers and businessmen. Specific communities of sexual workers have become established in all urban centres. In a cycle of poverty, it may be the only choice available to many women. These women, Howlett explains, act as repositories, and the visiting men are the vectors spreading the disease along transportation routes and to their homes, in rural settings.

Howlett and his wife, Juliet, have become increasingly engaged in Public Education – holding talks in Public Meetings, developing education materials, reaching out to social leaders … However, he says that providing information is not enough to change behaviour – people have to understand the information and its implications for their lives and the lives of their family members.. Be responsible. Tests are available – get tested. Be celibate if you are HIV positive, or, at least, use a condom. All are equal before AIDs, he says. Nearly 100% of patients with AIDs die.

HIV is one of our newest diseases, discovered in the early 1980s. From being a disease with no cure, it is now a disease that people who have access to drugs live with chronically.
Get transcript for video here: https://www.oercommons.org/courseware/module/58789/overview

This video on HIV in Global Health introduces the student to the origin, and major milestones in the HIV pandemic. Students will learn about scientific breakthroughs in HIV research including important trials. The video also provides insight into public health initiatives to limit the pandemic such as ART programs and different testing strategies. Finally the video sums up future challenges for ending the HIV pandemic.

This video is about interactions between nutritional deficiencies and infections in low-income settings. First, the typical diet in low-income countries, and the most common micronutrient deficiencies will be described, and basic concepts about the malnutrition-infection cycle will be introduced. Then the role of iron, zinc and vitamin A in relation to childhood infections will be discussed. Finally, students will hear about the need for nutritional support to patients with TB and HIV patients.

Downloadable transcripts for the videos from Karolinska Institutet, from the course "An Introduction to Global Health".The course is originally published at EdX. 

7.016 Introductory Biology provides an introduction to fundamental principles of biochemistry, molecular biology, and genetics for understanding the functions of living systems. Taught for the first time in Fall 2013, this course covers examples of the use of chemical biology and twenty-first-century molecular genetics in understanding human health and therapeutic intervention.
The MIT Biology Department Introductory Biology courses 7.012, 7.013, 7.014, 7.015, and 7.016 all cover the same core material, which includes the fundamental principles of biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, and cell biology. Biological function at the molecular level is particularly emphasized and covers the structure and regulation of genes, as well as the structure and synthesis of proteins, how these molecules are integrated into cells, and how these cells are integrated into multicellular systems and organisms. In addition, each version of the subject has its own distinctive material.

The KNOW Curriculum is one of several HIV/STD curriculum options available to school districts in Washington state. The following documents provide school districts with resources to assist in identifying and/or developing an effective HIV/STD prevention program for their students. Included in the OSPI-developed curriculum are HIV/AIDS prevention materials and considerations for teacher selection and training as well as parent and community involvement.

Available documents:
Grades 5-6, English and Spanish
Grades 7-8, English and Spanish

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Despite a large reduction in AIDS-related deaths as a result of HIV antiretroviral programs, the global incidence of HIV has only decreased by 16% in the past 10 years. One hotspot is in South Africa, where young women in particular face high rates of HIV infection. In a recent study, researchers followed up on their previous observation that female genital tract (FGT) inflammation increases HIV risk by evaluating the relationship between FGT inflammation and microbial function in 113 young South African women at high risk of HIV infection. Using metaproteomics to characterize a total of 3,186 microbial and human proteins from vaginal wall swabs, they found that women with elevated FGT inflammation had increased non-optimal bacteria and decreased lactobacilli. Reduced cell wall organization and peptidoglycan biosynthesis were also associated with high FGT inflammation levels..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Women with a Lactobacillus-dominated cervical/vaginal microbiome have a reduced risk of acquiring sexually transmitted infections (STIs). including HIV infection. However, the protective mechanisms of Lactobacillus species are unclear. To learn more, researchers recently bulk-analyzed the proteins in vaginal swabs from 113 young South African women. Compared to women with Lactobacillus-depleted microbiomes, women with Lactobacillus-dominated vaginal microbiomes had higher levels of bacterial lactate dehydrogenase an important lactic acid–producing enzyme. In addition, the abundance of this enzyme was associated with the abundance of epithelial barrier proteins suggesting that lactate dehydrogenase is directly related to the physical barrier function of cervicovaginal tissue. Similarly, in cultured cervicovaginal epithelial cells, physiologically relevant concentrations of lactic acid improved epithelial barrier integrity and increased the expression of molecules that “glue” barrier cells together..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Endemic Burkitt lymphoma (eBL), a malignancy of immune B cells, is the most common childhood cancer in sub-Saharan Africa eBL is curable when it's identified early, but it's rapidly fatal without treatment Children in sub-Saharan Africa are over 50 times more likely to develop eBL than children living anywhere else in the world Unfortunately, few studies have examined the risk factors associated with eBL To address that gap, researchers conducted a study of eBL in children in three countries in East Africa They analyzed the relationship between eBL and infections, environmental, and genetic risk factors and focused their conclusions on results observed in at least two countries to minimize false-positives Risk of eBL was associated with low socio-economic status inpatient malaria treatment and living in areas targeted for malaria suppression In addition to exploring eBL risk factors, this study also demonstrates the potential to study cancer risk in East Africa and to detect, treat, or prevent e.."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"HIV affects 38 million people worldwide, and a cure remains elusive. One important factor in transmission and pathogenesis lies outside the virus: the microbiome of the gut and genital surfaces is increasingly recognized as a key player during HIV infection, affecting inflammation and microbial translocation. In an effort to better understand the effects of microbes on health during infection, researchers turned to an animal model. Vervet monkeys are a natural host for a closely related virus, simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). Because they have faced SIV for hundreds of thousands of years, the monkeys have co-evolved with the virus, allowing vervets to have nonprogressive SIV infection. By evaluating the microbiota of SIV-infected vervets, the researchers sought to determine what microbe-associated factors protected vervets against AIDS. Characterization of fecal, rectal, vaginal, and penile microbiomes in vervets from heavily SIV-infected areas in South Africa..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

The United in Anger Study Guide facilitates classroom and activist engagement with Jim Hubbard‰Ûªs 2012 documentary, United in Anger: A History of ACT UP. The Study Guide contains discussion sections, projects and exercises, and resources for further research about the activism of the New York chapter of ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power). The Study Guide is a free, interactive, multimedia resource for understanding the legacy of ACT UP, the film‰Ûªs role in preserving that legacy, and its meaning for viewers' lives.

Students simulate the spread of a virus such as HIV through a population by "sharing" (but not drinking) the water in a plastic cup with several classmates. Although invisible, the water in a few of the cups has already be tainted with the "virus" (sodium carbonate). After all the students have shared their liquids, the contents of the cups are tested for the virus with phenolphthalein, a chemical that causes a striking color change in the presence of sodium carbonate. Students then set about trying to determine which of their classmates were the ones originally infected with the virus.

Students learn how viruses invade host cells and hijack the hosts' cell-reproduction mechanisms in order to make new viruses, which can in turn attack additional host cells. Students also learn how the immune system responds to a viral invasion, eventually defeating the viruses -- if all goes well. Finally, they consider the special case of HIV, in which the virus' host cell is a key component of the immune system itself, severely crippling it and ultimately leading to AIDS. The associated activity, Tracking a Virus, sets the stage for this lesson with a dramatic simulation that allows students to see for themselves how quickly a virus can spread through a population, and then challenges students to determine who the initial bearers of the virus were.