In many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, it is the lack of street signs, addresses and even consistent spelling of family names that poses some of the greatest challenges to scientists seeking to test a new drug or vaccine.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is expected to announce a $17 million grant in support of an African-led initiative working to overcome such obstacles.
Drug companies or other organizations doing clinical research in Africa today typically impose their own monitoring system tailored to fit the needs of a particular study and then dismantle it upon completion.
What's needed, said Dr. Regina Rabinovich, head of the infectious disease program at the Gates Foundation, is an African-run system of clinical research that is permanent and self-sustaining.
To that end, the Seattle philanthropy has given $17 million to a non-profit organization known as the INDEPTH Network, formed by Binka and others in 1998.
[Excerpt of article by Tom Paulson, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer]
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