Kericho’s Big Lessons
Part three of a documentary from the tea fields of Kenya
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In the video above, researchers hope proven success in AIDS treatment on tea plantations can lead to better medical practices elsewhere.
After nearly a decade of research in the tea fields of Kericho and western Kenya, a team from Boston University’s Center for Global Health and Development can now prove a heartening point: HIV-infected workers who are treated with antiretroviral drugs return to full productivity, and a full life, within a few months.
So a study that began by measuring the decline to death caused by AIDS has proved that when the death sentence is commuted, investing in good health care for people with HIV is sound business practice, ensuring a stronger, more stable workforce.
In part three of this documentary series, those lessons are put into broad context. Are the conditions and demands of Kenyan tea fields unique, or do these findings offer a new model for business practice everywhere?
Read part one of the series, which aired on Monday, here. Read part two, which aired yesterday, here.
Additional editing by Joe Chan and Anna Horowitz-Gelb. Additional videography by Philip Zekos.
Seth Rolbein can be reached at srolbein@bu.edu. Devin Hahn can be reached at dhahn@bu.edu.
An in-depth written account of BU’s involvement in Kenya is in the Winter-Spring 2010 Bostonia.
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