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MEDIA CENTER Population Council Researcher Part of Advisory Board for Innovative Design Initiative to Combat HIV/AIDS in Africa NEW YORK (18 November 2002) — It is estimated that three-quarters of the world's AIDS population lives in sub-Saharan Africa; most have no access to lifesaving drugs, testing facilities or even basic preventative care. One of the major factors inhibiting medical professionals in Africa from treating this disease is the inability to access vast areas of the continent with adequately equipped facilities. In response, Architecture for Humanity challenged architects, designers and medical professionals from around the world to design a mobile HIV/AIDS health clinic. Designers were given six months to develop schemes for a fully equipped, mobile medical unit and HIV/AIDS treatment center that could be used for not only testing, prevention and treatment of the disease, but also to disseminate information regarding the virus and provide basic health care services. By the project deadline, 1 November 2001, more than 507 teams representing 49 nations answered the call. Crossing geographical, political, and cultural boundaries, entries came in from such diverse places as Australia, Botswana, China, Denmark, India, Japan, Kenya, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. A detailed set of criteria was developed with support and advice from a team of over 100 medical professionals and HIV/AIDS researchers. During the submission period, over 126,000 visitors from 108 countries logged on to their Web site (link below) to learn about this initiative. In total, more than 950 architects, medical professionals, industrial designers, and students in the field of design and medicine took part in this truly global response, submitting highly innovative and cost-efficient schemes. A seven-person panel comprising internationally renowned architects and HIV/AIDS professionals will meet in New York from 22 November to 23 November 2002 to jury the entries. The panelists will include: Toshiko Mori, Chair of the Department of Architecture, Harvard Graduate Design School; Dr. Reuben Mutiso, Ph.D., architect/planner and principal of Tectura International in Nairobi, Kenya; Rick Joy, architect and principal of Rick Joy Architects; Jennifer Siegal, architect and principal of Office of Mobile Design; Kate Bourne, Executive Vice President of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI); Dr. Peter R. Lamptey, M.D., President of the AIDS Institute, Family Health International; and Dr Shaffiq Essajee, Director of the AIDS Research and Family Care Clinic in Mombasa, Kenya. The jury will select first, second, and third place entries along with the best student entry and ten honorable mentions. Finalists will be announced in New York on World AIDS Day, 1 December 2002. An exhibition of the winning entries and selected designs will open on 6 December 2002 at the Van Alen Institute in New York and will be on display until 20 December 2002. With the support of Virgin Atlantic and W Hotels, this exhibit is set to travel in 2003 within the United States and internationally. Money raised from the $35 submission fee (waived for entries from developing countries), donations, and additional fundraising activities will be used to build a prototype of the first-place concept. Once developed, it is hoped that refined versions of this cost-effective and mobile design can be built for Africa—and eventually easily replicated in other regions around the world. Dr. Johannes van Dam, of the Population Council’s Horizons Program, is one of the nine-member board of the Mobile HIV/AIDS Health Clinic for Africa. "Until permanent clinics can be built, mobile HIV/AIDS clinics are a good interim solution for AIDS-affected families in remote, resource-poor regions of the world,” said van Dam. “Ideally, such mobile clinics would meet existing care and prevention needs by offering a range of preventive, care, and simple laboratory services in privacy and confidentiality. Stigmatization is reduced if the clinic offers more than HIV/AIDS care only." About Architecture for Humanity Architecture for Humanity is a volunteer organization founded by 28-year-old designer Cameron Sinclair in 1999. A registered nonprofit organization, Architecture for Humanity encourages architects and designers to seek solutions to global social and humanitarian crises. With each project a new advisory board is assembled based on board members' individual areas of expertise. Other Mobile HIV/AIDS Health Clinic for Africa board members include Pritzker-prize winning architect Frank Gehry FAIA; Ambassador Richard Swett FAIA; South African architect Rodney Harber; Kenyan architect Reuben Mutiso; IAVI Vice President Kate Bourne; Dr. Sunanda Ray, Executive Director of SafAIDS, based in Zimbabwe; and Dr. Michael Sweat of Johns Hopkins University. To learn more, visit http://www.architectureforhumanity.org. About Van Alen Institute Van Alen Institute is a nonprofit organization committed to improving the design of the public realm through a program of competitions, workshops, public forums, exhibitions, and publications. Founded in 1894 as the Society of Beaux-Arts Architects, the Institute was renamed in 1996 after William Van Alen, the architect of the Chrysler Building and the Institute's largest benefactor, and repositioned to focus on the public realm. Based in New York, the Institute's projects initiate interdisciplinary and international collaborations between practitioners, policymakers, students, educators, and community leaders. To learn more, visit www.vanalen.org. For more about the Mobile HIV/AIDS Health Clinic for Africa, visit: http://www.architectureforhumanity.org. About the Horizons Program Horizons is a global operations research program designed to identify components of effective HIV/AIDS programs and policies; test potential solutions to problems in prevention, care, support, and service delivery; and disseminate and utilize findings with a view toward replication and scaling-up of successful interventions. Implemented by the Population Council, the Horizons partnership includes the International Center for Research on Women, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, Program for Appropriate Technology in Health, Tulane University, Family Health International, and Johns Hopkins University. For more information about the Population Council and its HIV/AIDS work, visit http://www.popcouncil.org/hivaids/index.html.
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