Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - June 30, 2002
The money will be used to build the first state-of-the-art HIV/Aids research facility in South Africa, and bring together top researchers from around the globe.
Several research projects will benefit and support services will be provided on a large scale throughout the continent.
The newly appointed vice-chancellor of Natal University and president of the Medical Research Council, Professor Malegapuru Makgoba, said international donors were attracted to the university because it was at the cutting edge of HIV/Aids programmes in Africa and boasted three of the world's top researchers.
"The highest concentration of research in Africa is at Natal University. It is an excellent centre for research for the continent because of the skills and personnel," he said.
The biggest grant (79.1-million, or about R815-million) is from the United Nations Global Fund to the Enhancing Care Initiative, and will be used to expand a comprehensive package of prevention, care and support services.
The university is also the first non-US organisation to receive funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, based in New York. The organisation will plough $3.75-million (about R38-million) into establishing a research facility and a bilateral programme with Harvard Medical School.
Professor Jerry Coovadia, who will drive the project, said donors were ploughing money into KwaZulu-Natal because of its large concentration of HIV/Aids sufferers. About 33% of people aged 15 to 49 in the province are infected. - Buddy Naidu
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