The Society for Disease Prevention is a nonprofit 501c3 organization that exists to prevent public health crises and infectious disease outbreaks through widespread community education.
SFDP is uniquely qualified to address the need of effective health prevention education. SFDP is led by a group of dedicated volunteers who are licensed to provide medical care and education both locally, in Pennsylvania and in various regions of Africa.
The president of SFDP’s Board, Kennedy Alajemba, was personally motivated to start a nonprofit that targets the root causes of infectious diseases through education and awareness because of his personal experience working in, and being from, Africa. Although most of his experience is within the US, he was born in Nigeria and has experience working within the Nigerian Health Care system.
OUR TEAM
SFDP was created in 2018 by a group of dedicated members of the York, Pennsylvania medical community. Many members of our Board are doctors and/or university professors. Our aim is to put our medical knowledge to work to better our community locally and globally.
NEW TREATMENTS
Funded early studies that were critical to the development of protease inhibitors, the powerful drugs that revolutionized the treatment of HIV/AIDS and contributed to a drastic reduction in AIDS-related deaths.
Supported research that led to the initial identification and characterization of the compound eventually approved for clinical use as Fuzeon, the first in a new class of AIDS drugs called fusion inhibitors.
Supported studies leading to identification of the critical role of the cell protein CCR5 in HIV infection. This pivotal finding was instrumental to the development of maraviroc, an anti-HIV drug that works by blocking the CCR5 co-receptor.
PREVENTIONS
Pioneered research that ultimately led to the use of antiretroviral drugs to block mother-to-infant HIV transmission. As a result, mother-to-child transmission has been all but eliminated in the industrialized world.
Provided early support for the development of microbicides—topical creams or gels that could be discreetly applied prior to sexual intercourse as a means of preventing the sexual transmission of HIV.
Supported studies of syringe exchange programs (SEPs) in several cities around the U.S. showing that these programs reduce HIV transmission by 50 percent or more among participating injection drug users, without increasing illegal drug use.
Provided support for the only national survey of SEPs, whose results are published annually in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Supported an evaluation of the effectiveness of using physician prescription to provide sterile syringes to injection drug users in a community-clinic setting via a pilot study.
VACCINES
Supported the expansion of the range of vaccine concepts, including the first study to demonstrate the potential of a DNA vaccine to slow disease progression.
Funded research leading to the first three-dimensional images of HIV both before and while it makes initial contact with susceptible cells, information that could be used to design new vaccine and drug treatment candidates.
CLINICAL STUDIES
Established a Community-Based Clinical Trials (CBCT) Network, which showed that involving the HIV-infected community in clinical research expanded research capacity and expedited the drug approval process.
The CBCT Network facilitated the approval of aerosolized pentamidine as a preventive for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia; rifabutin as a treatment for Mycobacterium avium complex; and the FDA-approved treatment for AZT-induced anemia using erythropoietin.
Undertook a first-of-its-kind randomized controlled study comparing two treatments for hepatitis C (HCV) in HIV-infected individuals, which revealed that interferon alfa-2b plus ribavirin is more effective at eliminating HCV than interferon alone.
INTERNATIONAL
Supported a landmark study in Kenya that showed that HIV transmission can occur from females to males (in addition to vice versa), and that the presence of other sexually transmitted infections in either partner can increase the risk of HIV transmission. Awarded in 1987, this was amfAR’s first grant addressing the international epidemic.
Undertook an HIV prevention education program in Nepal, initiated in 1993, that provided technical assistance to community-level prevention activities conducted by 17 nongovernmental agencies.
Created TREAT Asia in 2001. This network of clinics, hospitals, and research institutions is working to ensure the safe and effective delivery of HIV/AIDS treatments throughout Asia and the Pacific.
Launched the international GMT Initiative (formerly the MSM Initiative) in 2007, which provides grants to grassroots groups in support of innovative HIV/AIDS services for gay men, other men who have sex with men, and transgender individuals (collectively, GMT) in resource-limited countries. Grants will also be used to improve communication and increase collaboration among organizations, and to support advocacy efforts.
EPIDEMIOLOGY
Formed a 17,000-person observational database following the course of HIV disease before and after treatment in the United States.
Established Asia’s first HIV/AIDS observational database to monitor disease course and treatment outcomes, generating information that will help improve treatment standards for patients across the continent.
Society for Disease Prevention is entirely volunteer-run.
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