Sh1.2b for malaria research

Jan 25, 2005

THE Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and the US National Library of Medicine have committed five million Swedish Kronor (sh1.2b) to link Malaria Research Centres in Africa on the Internet.

By Angella Nabwowe

THE Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and the US National Library of Medicine have committed five million Swedish Kronor (sh1.2b) to link Malaria Research Centres in Africa on the Internet.

In Uganda, Mulago hospital has been selected for the Internet link with other malaria research centres in Zambia, Congo Brazzaville and Nigeria to join the electronic malaria research network in the World.

The designing and implementation of the project was due to start on January 17, 2005, at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. The project team will move to Uganda in February to do physical assessment. Swedish Professor Bjorn Pearson is heading the team.

“Mulago is ready to roll,” said Royall Julia, Chief, International Programs, US National Library of Medicine, who is also the project director of the malaria research network.

“The malaria group is happy to have an independent system on which they have more control and identify with other malaria research groups on the MIMCOM network,” stated the final site report.

The network is expected to provide full access to the Internet and resources of the World Wide Web as well as access to the current medical literature for scientists working within Africa.

The report, however, cites electricity load shedding as the possible major drawback to the project. They hope to avert this using inverters.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), an estimated one million people die of malaria each year. Africa accounts for 90% of the deaths.

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