Houston-Based Pediatric AIDS Program Receives $3.5 Million CDC Grant

The CDC has awarded a five-year, $3.5 million grant to Houston-based Baylor College of Medicine's International Pediatric AIDS Initiative, which aims to reduce HIV transmission and to improve care for HIV-positive individuals in developing nations, the Houston Chronicle reports. The program, which began in 1996, currently treats HIV-positive children in Mexico, Romania and Africa and trains health professionals throughout the world. Under the grant, Baylor will assist the CDC in providing technical assistance to health ministries and HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care organizations in 25 countries in Africa, South America, Asia and the Caribbean. Dr. Mark Kline, the program's director, said the grant will allow the project to train more health professional and to work in new countries (Hopper, Houston Chronicle, 10/5).