Effort to Build Information Infrastructure in Africa
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http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/now/aug6/africa.html
Aiming to give African scientists the chance to work together to
solve some of the continent�s most pressing problems, the Re-
gional Centre for HIV/AIDS, TB, and Malaria Research and Train-
ing in Witwatersrand, South Africa is building an infrastructure
of information, said the Center�s director at a recent talk
marking HSPH�s first Africa Malaria Day.
There are "many clever people" in African science, said Steven
Chandiwana, but the infrastructure to support them does not ex-
ist. Chandiwana is associate dean and director of graduate stud-
ies, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand.
He has recruited as partners representatives of governments and
institutions of southern African countries � Botswana, Zimbabwe,
Mozambique, Lesotho, Swaziland, and South Africa. The Center
provides research and educational opportunities to scientists,
reduces duplication of research efforts in the region, and as-
sists governments in planning policies based on scientific evi-
dence. African scientists � in particular graduate students �
are trained in research methodology and in nuts-and-bolts skills
such as grant-writing. By building these skills at home, said
Chandiwana, Africans can bring more research dollars to their
region while building and receiving knowledge.
The Internet is a significant tool in the effort. The Center is
creating two databases: one of current research projects in the
region and one of potential funding sources. "Virtual" scien-
tific relationships between graduate students who can exchange
ideas using the Internet are also being encouraged.
A parisitologist trained at Cornell University, Chandiwana has a
particular interest in malaria. Two-and-a-half billion people in
90 countries are at risk for the disease, he said. There are 300
to 500 million cases in sub-Saharan Africa, where 3,000 people
die of it each day, mostly pregnant women and children under the
age of five. Malaria costs Africa $2 billion annually in direct
and indirect costs, he said.
When 44 African leaders gathered in Abuja, Nigeria in 2000, they
pledged to fight malaria through a variety of means which, they
hoped, would cut mortality in half by 2010. Countries and donor
organizations pledged US$ 100 billion in new funds, and set
goals to reach by 2005: for 60 percent of malaria sufferers to
have access to appropriate treatment within 24 hours; for at
least 60 percent of those at risk to benefit from a combination
of community measures and personal measures (such as insecti-
cide-treated nets); and for at least 60 percent of pregnant
women to have access to malaria prophylaxis.
The region is falling well short of those goals, said Chandi-
wana. Right now, fewer than two percent of African children
sleep under insecticide-treated nets. Disbursement of funds is
falling below commitments made by donors, he added. What�s
needed, he said, is political will and regional efforts that can
be more focused. He concluded, "There are a lot of people in Af-
rica who would like to do good work."
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