Baylor Pediatric AIDS Program Signs Agreement To Open HIV Treatment Center in China
Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative representatives on Tuesday signed an agreement with officials from China's Yunnan province health bureau to open a treatment center for HIV-positive children in Kunming, China, the Houston Chronicle reports. The clinic is expected to cost about $1.1 million, and no projected opening date has been announced. Physicians in the Kunming area have identified 100 to 200 HIV-positive children, but BIPAI believes "there are a lot more," Heidi Schwarzwald, BIPAI vice president for clinical affairs, said. The agreement was signed by Kelin Du, deputy director general of the Yunnan health bureau, and negotiated by Schwarzwald and Mike Mizwa, BIPAI vice president for international affairs (Hopper, Houston Chronicle, 11/16). BIPAI, which began in 1996, currently treats HIV-positive children in Mexico, Romania and African countries and trains health professionals throughout the world (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 10/8/02). As part of BIPAI, the Pediatric AIDS Corps, a program of Baylor College of Medicine and pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb launched in June, plans to send as many as 250 physicians to Africa for a two-year program to train local health care workers and treat HIV-positive children (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 11/1).
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