Updated
February
2001
Summary:
The National Institutes of Health supports a very heterogeneous
mixture of research projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, including
large program project and center grants, medium-sized research
projects (RO1s), and small fellowships and collaborative research
awards. Various NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices support
research and training in Sub-Saharan Africa. A number of
awards have been made by the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and
the National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD),
followed by the National
Cancer Institute (NCI), the National
Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and the Fogarty
International Center (FIC).
Significant
activities are supported in approximately 20 African countries.
Countries of focused activity include South Africa, Mali,
Uganda, Kenya, and Botswana. Areas of research include: (1) roughly 30 percent AIDS and
sexually transmitted diseases, including a substantial effort
to understand mother-to-child transmission of HIV; (2) roughly
20 percent other infectious diseases, ranging from population-based
research on malaria, schistosomiasis, and leishmaniasis, to
molecular research on vectors and parasites; (3) roughly 12
percent cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular and neurological
diseases; (4) roughly 10 percent comparative population and
behavior studies, particularly related to child growth and
behavior; and (5) an assortment of primate research, biodiversity
prospecting, and basic research studies.
Malaria
Research Collaboration
FIC and
NIAID have catalyzed an international effort to identify research
priorities on malaria and to discuss funding mechanisms for
collaborative efforts in malaria research in Africa.
In 1997, following an international conference held in Dakar,
Senegal, the Multilateral
Initiative on Malaria (MIM) was established. MIM
aims to maximize the impact of scientific research against
malaria in Africa through promoting capacity building and
facilitating global coordination and collaboration. MIM
is an alliance of organizations and individuals concerned with
malaria research and control, including donor and funder
organizations (governmental, non-governmental, international
agencies, and private foundations), scientists, health
professionals, and industry. FIC is currently the MIM
Secretariat.
U.S.-South Africa Science
and Technology Activities
The Gore-Mbeki
Binational Commission (BNC) was launched in 1995 by
former Vice
President Al Gore and South Africa's Deputy Executive President
Thabo Mbeki. Under the BNC, S&T activities are supported through a
Science
and Technology Agreement signed in 1995. The Office
of Science and Technology Policy leads an interagency effort to coordinate U.S. Government
technical agencies under the S&T Agreement.
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