In 2001, the Foundation for Professional Development (FPD) in association with the southern Africa HIV Clinicians Society (SAHCS) developed a course to train primary care providers (nurses and medical practitioners) in the clinical management of AIDS including training on antiretroviral therapy.

In 2002, Eskom became a founding grantmaker of the African Aids Training Partnership (AATP), managed by the FPD.  The objective of the partnership was to use the course to rapidly develop a cadre of trained primary health care professionals (nurses and doctors) across southern Africa who will provide clinical management of HIV/AIDS, including training on antiretroviral therapy (ART).

During the financial year 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008, the CSI budget allocation for the project was R1,8 million.  The donation was staggered from the year 2002 and by 2007 the total amounted to
R10,5 million.

A total of 275 workshops on the clinical management of HIV/AIDS were organised in 2007 in all nine provinces in South Africa and in 10 other countries in sub Saharan Africa.  This resulted in 13 117 delegates receiving training. Of these, 1406 delegates came from other countries on the continent and 11 711 were from across South Africa.
 
Delegates who benefited from the 2007/8 Eskom grant included professional nurses (51,4%), medical doctors (48,7%) and professors of medicine (0,2%).The profile of delegates was 5 903 women (45%) and 7214 men (55%).

The partnership with Eskom, also created a mechanism whereby an alumnus would be created that will continue to update their knowledge of HIV/AIDS.  All alumni receive journals and monthly newsletters, access to the alumni website and access to continuous professional development (CPD) meetings arranged by SAHCS.

The support from Eskom for the AATP has shown that African designed and managed solutions to the HIV pandemic is not only feasible, but able to deliver solutions at a larger scope than any northern based imported initiatives.