The University of the Witwatersrand Perinatal HIV Research Unit based at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto has called for IT companies to sponsor Web communications, to enable the unit to function more effectively and speed up work on an HIV vaccine.
The unit, staffed by 90 people, currently treats about 12 380 HIV-positive mothers and babies, and this figure is expected to grow to 24 000 soon. The unit also serves as an HIV/AIDS research centre, working with local and international partners to research the transmission of HIV from mother to child, and to develop an HIV vaccine.
However, this work requires instant communications and easy access to international research and information. Rao Parathnandh, IT manager for the unit, has issued a call for local IT companies to sponsor a Web site and electronic communications.
"We are currently using separate dialup accounts for each of the team members - this costs us up to R15 000 a month, without subscriptions. The unit receives funding from US and UN aid, but no local government support, so these costs have become too much for us to carry."
The unit recently completed a new computer network, with sponsorship by 3Com, MediTech and Telephone Brokers. "This is an ideal time for us to upgrade our communications too," says Parathnandh.
"We need electronic communications to speed up the exchange of important information, such as test results, between our different clinics and laboratories, and to allow our doctors to communicate quickly. The most pressing reason for needing e-mail is to improve communications between researchers as they work on developing an HIV vaccine."
An HIV vaccine is expected before the end of this year, with trials of the vaccine expected to start early next year. The sooner this happens, the more lives could be saved.
Internet access would allow the unit`s doctors and researchers to stay abreast of international developments and collaborate with their peers overseas in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Parathnandh says the unit has approached some local companies for assistance, but without much success. "We need a sponsor to host our Web site on a proxy server, as well as sponsoring a diginet line and the monthly charges involved," he says.
"Reliable data is sadly lacking in Africa. A Web site would go a long way towards educating the South African public and the world at large about HIV and mother-to-child transmission of HIV. It would also help us to conduct the vast amounts of research needed for the first HIV vaccine trial in this country."
Share
