African AIDS research center to open in Cote d'Ivoire

The World Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention inaugurated an AIDS research center on April 17, 1996, in the Ivory Coast of Africa. The Cote d'Ivoire Center for Bioclinical Research on AIDS in Abidjan, the capital, will be equipped with a laboratory capable of performing cell cultures on site instead of sending samples abroad. The center will train African physicians and scientists to form a core of pan-African AIDS researchers, the UN Scientific, Educational and Cultural Organization said. The center will treat out-patients who have not yet developed AIDS symptoms and perform research on the African strain of HIV. "This is a first step toward strengthening AIDS research in Africa and finding appropriate solutions for this continent involving African researchers rather than having them go abroad to find training and well-equipped laboratories," said Pierluigi Vagliani, the AIDS foundation's executive secretary. The Abidjan center will join a network of research units that will soon include centers in Thailand, Japan, and the US. The first center opened in Paris, France, in February 1996. More that 70% of AIDS patients worldwide are in sub-Saharan Africa. Ivory Coast is one of the hardest-hit with almost 15% of the population HIV positive, the statement said.