Canada to strengthen HIV/AIDS prevention research in sub-Saharan Africa

OTTAWA, Nov. 18 /CNW/ - Canada's Global Health Research Initiative has announced that seven teams will receive grants of up to CA $1.8 million over four years to strengthen research capacity for African-led HIV/AIDS prevention trials.

The funding will allow the teams to develop the ability of African researchers and research institutions to carry out randomized controlled trials in sub-Saharan Africa, which remains at the centre of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic.

An important contribution in the fight against HIV/AIDS, randomized controlled trials allow researchers to rigorously test the effectiveness of new and existing HIV/AIDS prevention efforts, including potential vaccines.

"To date, only a small percentage of all prevention trials have been carried out in Africa and only a small fraction of those were led by African researchers," said Michael Clarke, Program Leader for the Global Health Research Initiative. "These grants are an opportunity to address this gap. This is important, given the fact that African researchers have an in depth understanding of the context of HIV/AIDS prevention efforts in their countries and are in a good position to influence decision-makers responsible for local and national HIV/AIDS prevention policies and programs responding to the epidemic."

The seven teams are based throughout sub-Saharan Africa and include a number of Canadian researchers. The grants are offered by the Global Health Research Initiative's HIV/AIDS Prevention Trials Capacity Building Grants Program, a component of the Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative. The program is funded through a contribution from the Canadian International Development Agency and the International Development Research Centre.

Canada's Global Health Research Initiative is a research funding partnership of five Canadian federal agencies and departments, including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canadian International Development Agency, Health Canada, the International Development Research Centre and the Public Health Agency of Canada.

LINKS

Program Backgrounder: http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-159671-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html
Global Health Research Initiative: http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-114548-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html
Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative: http://www.chvi-icvv.gc.ca/new-eng.html

For further information:

Isabelle Bourgeault-Tassé
([phone]
[email protected]