News and Recent Developments from AffordCD4.com 

     Dr Ilesh Jani has been appointed to the Division of Blood Safety, at the World Health

         Organisation, Geneva to assist Dr Gaby Vercautereng for 3 months.

     See details of this fabulous brainchild of Prof Barry Mendelow, refining logistics of sample

        collection and delivery of results in remote rural areas

        http://www.mbusinessdaily.com/magazine/story/MBZ20010914S0014

     The Department of Molecular Medicine and Haematology the University of the

         Witwatersrand and the South African National Health Laboratory Labs were recently

         awarded a NIH CIPRA grant, under the principle investigators, Prof James McIntyre

         and Dr Glenda Gray of the ChrisHani/Baragwanath Perinatal HIV Unit www.hivsa.co.za

         Administered by the United States National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

         (NIAID) the CIPRA program helps developing countries strengthen their HIV/AIDS

          research infrastructure and increase their capacity for research into promising methods of

          HIV prevention and treatment.This grant for US$21.3 million from the United States

          National Institute for Health (NIH).

         The grant will extend over 5 years and will support HIV/AIDS research in a family

         setting    – a rarely tried approach to fighting the disease. Five integrated projects will

        • Evaluate an affordable HIV/AIDS treatment programme for adults and children in a

           family setting at primary care level

        • Test whether treatment interruption is an affordable and feasible way of controlling HIV

           infection in children that reduces the progression to AIDS
        • Determine the efficacy of two standard childhood vaccines (used to prevent pneumonia

          and meningitis) in preventing AIDS-related complications in infants
        • Evaluate the community effect of highly active anti-retroviral therapy on sickness and

          deaths due to AIDS and Tuberculosis

        • Develop simple, inexpensive methods of diagnosing HIV and monitoring treatment and

          drug resistance.