ZAMBIA TO BENEFIT FROM A USAID $45 MILLION GRANT FOR HIV VACCINE RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
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Lusaka, Zambia | 25th September 2023, United States Ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety joined U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Deputy Administrator, Paloma Adams-Allen, to announce a $45 million investment in a consortium of organisations in sub-Saharan Africa, led by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), to implement a programme known as HIV Vaccine Innovation, Science, and Technology Acceleration in Africa (HIV-VISTA) over five years. This award will enable scientists across sub-Saharan Africa to be at the forefront of HIV vaccine research and development.
The grant provides a massive opportunity for scientists from Zambia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe to advance HIV vaccine research & development and to test vaccine immunogens that are being designed and developed in Africa.
The consortium of organisations dubbed BRILLIANT (BRinging Innovation to cLinical and Laboratory research to end HIV In Africa through New vaccine Technology) aim to support sub-Saharan scientists, institutions, and innovative systems of collaboration in designing and testing improved HIV vaccine candidates that will advance the field toward the long-term goal of a safe and globally effective HIV vaccine.
The Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) is part of this BRILLIANT Consortium and a sub-recipient of the award and will help advance the HIV response in Zambia through effective HIV vaccine research. Over two decades, CIDRZ has been an active partner of the Zambian government through the Ministry of Health and other ministries. It conducts locally relevant research studies within the existing health systems infrastructure.
With its expertise and dedication to medical research, CIDRZ will, through its innovative capacity development, implementation science and research, continue supporting the MoH to improve access to quality healthcare and impactful and sustainable public health programs.
For media inquiries
CIDRZ Communication Department
+260768553227
