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Abbott Fund, Baylor College of Medicine and the Government of Malawi to Build New Clinic for HIV-Infected Children

Lilongwe, Malawi (ots/PRNewswire)

The Abbott Fund, Baylor
College of Medicine and the Government of Malawi have announced they
will partner in the establishment of Malawi's first center dedicated
to providing care and treatment for children with HIV/AIDS.
Construction of the new clinic on the Kamuzu Central Hospital campus
in Lilongwe is to begin in April and should be completed by December
2005. The Malawi clinic is the latest addition to the rapidly growing
Baylor pediatric network, which forms the largest group of clinics
devoted to treating children with HIV/AIDS in the developing world.
Due to the overwhelming impact of the AIDS pandemic, the
complexity of treating HIV-infected children, and a lack of resources
and specialized training, there has been little focus on pediatric
HIV treatment in developing countries like Malawi. The new pediatric
center, which will be staffed collaboratively by Baylor and local
health professionals, is designed to help address this unmet need
through a comprehensive approach to pediatric treatment and care.
The clinic is being funded by a three-year, US$1.5 million grant
for construction and ongoing operations from the Abbott Fund's Step
Forward program, which to date has provided more than US$12 million
in grants and donated product to Baylor initiatives aimed at
advancing programs, knowledge and health professional training to
address pediatric HIV/AIDS in the developing world.
The Malawi center will be modeled after the Romanian-American
Children's Center, the first stand-alone pediatric AIDS clinic in the
developing world. Through an innovative approach to treatment at this
pediatric center supported by the Abbott Fund, children are provided
with state-of-the-art medical treatment, including antiretroviral
therapy. A comprehensive program of support also is provided for
children and their families, including psychosocial counseling,
support groups, and awareness and prevention education. This model
program has reduced pediatric AIDS mortality by more than 90 percent
in four years in Constanta, Romania, the epicenter of pediatric HIV
in Eastern Europe.
"Abbott Fund and Baylor have pioneered a model in Romania that is
now being successfully replicated throughout the developing world and
will be instrumental to scaling up treatment and care for children
with HIV," said Mark W. Kline, M.D., director, Baylor International
Pediatric AIDS Initiative, Baylor College of Medicine. "With the
commitment of the Government of Malawi, we're hoping to achieve
similar results, and transform the delivery of care for children with
HIV in Malawi."
According to UNAIDS, Malawi has an HIV prevalence rate of more
than 14 percent, and it's estimated that almost 1 million people in
Malawi are living with HIV/AIDS. One in four HIV-infected children
die before the age of 5 -- one of the highest death rates in the
world. With more than 65 percent of the population living in poverty,
the country has very limited resources to fight the disease.
"Malawi currently does not have the capabilities to manage the
growing number of HIV-infected children in our existing pediatric
clinic in Lilongwe," said Peter N. Kazembe, M.D., future director of
the new clinic in Malawi. "We look forward to a successful working
relationship with Baylor and the Abbott Fund to help us more fully
address the needs of this vulnerable population."
In addition to the centers in Malawi and Romania supported by the
Abbott Fund, Baylor operates centers in Botswana and Uganda with
other donors. New clinics in Lesotho and Swaziland will be opened by
December 2005. Baylor also is working with health professionals in
Libya to enhance the care and treatment of HIV-infected children in
Benghazi.
"Pediatric HIV treatment in the developing world is a relatively
new field, and Baylor's approach has proven to be successful," said
Jeff Richardson, executive director of the Abbott Fund's Step Forward
program. "Abbott continues to support the Baylor programs to help
make an enduring impact in advancing the care of children with
HIV/AIDS."
About the Baylor Pediatric Centers of Excellence
The Baylor Pediatric Centers of Excellence are an extension of the
Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative (BIPAI). BIPAI was
established in 1996, and is the largest university-based program
worldwide dedicated to improving the health and lives of HIV-infected
children. The centers, which are developed and staffed
collaboratively by U.S. and local health professionals, are
transforming pediatric HIV/AIDS care and treatment in the developing
world. Approximately 12,000 HIV-infected children and families will
receive care and treatment in the established centers by 2006. For
more information, please visit http://www.bayloraids.org .
About the Abbott Fund
Abbott and the Abbott Fund have made a US$100 million commitment
over five years to address critical HIV/AIDS issues in Africa and
throughout the developing world, including expanding access to
testing and treatment; preventing mother-to-child transmission of
HIV; modernizing health care systems and infrastructure; and
providing care and support for children affected by HIV/AIDS through
the Step Forward program. Step Forward addresses specific community
needs in four interrelated areas: health care services and
infrastructure; voluntary HIV counseling and testing; education; and
basic community needs, such as clean water. For more information,
please visit http://www.stepforwardforchildren.org .
The Abbott Fund is a not-for-profit, philanthropic foundation
established by Abbott (NYSE: ABT), a global, broad-based health care
company devoted to the discovery, development, manufacture and
marketing of pharmaceuticals and medical products, including devices
and diagnostics.
Abbott's news releases and other information are available on the
company's Web site at http://www.abbott.com .
Web site: http://www.abbott.com
              http://www.bayloraids.org
              http://www.stepforwardforchildren.org

Contact:

Julie Ferguson of Abbott, +1-847-936-6116; or Lori Williams of Baylor
College of Medicine,+1-713-798-7637; or Prateek Patnaik of Cooney
Waters Group, +1-212-886-2243, or Gracelle Gerber of Bairds South
Africa, +27-82-829-5730, mobile

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