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Botswana-Baylor Children's Clinical Center of Excellence
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Laura Bush visits the Botswana-Baylor Children's Clinical Center of Excellence in July 2003
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The Botswana-Baylor Children's Clinical Center of Excellence was opened and officially dedicated by His Excellency Mr. Festus Mogae, President of the Republic of Botswana, on June 20, 2003. This new facility, the first of its kind on the African continent, will provide state-of-the-art care and treatment to HIV-infected children and families from Gaborone and surrounding areas. Press release
The Botswana-Baylor Children's Clinical Center of Excellence is the product of a partnership between the Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative at Baylor College of Medicine, the Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone, and the government of Botswana. The center was made possible by a $6 million grant from the Bristol-Myers Squibb Secure the Future program. Please see a written copy of Dr. Kline's remarks, made at the opening ceremony on June 20, 2003.
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The Botswana-Baylor Children's Clinical Center of Excellence
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The center was designed and built by a collaborative team of U.S. and Botswana professionals. It includes a large outpatient clinic, pharmacy, laboratory, offices, and conference center. The center will enhance family-centered HIV/AIDS care and treatment, health professional education and training, and clinical research in Botswana and the southern African region. Baylor and its partners believe that the center can serve as a model for the development of other such centers across Africa and around the world.
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Interior view of the Center of Excellence
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Botswana is particularly well suited for the establishment of a Children's Clinical Center of Excellence for a number of reasons. Botswana's HIV prevalence rate is among the highest in the world. However, His Excellency President Mogae and the government of Botswana have shown remarkable leadership in promoting the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, and Baylor has established excellent collaborative relationships with the Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone, the Botswana Ministry of Health, and other local partners.
Staffed collaboratively by U.S. and Botswana health professionals, it is envisaged that the Botswana-Baylor Children's Clinical Center of Excellence will provide services that are comprehensive in scope, encompassing the primary and specialty medical care and social service needs of HIV-infected infants, children, and families. Health professional education and clinical research will be integral to the center's mission. Collaborative education and training activities will include development of curricula on pediatric health and HIV/AIDS for health professionals, short-term exchange fellowships, and long-term training for African health professionals at Baylor College of Medicine (under the auspices of the Fogarty International Center-funded AIDS International Training and Research Program).
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