Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

Today Project Phidisa was officially launched at 1 Military Hospital. The project is a collaborative effort between the South African Department of Defence, (SANDF), the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a clinical research project aimed at exploring treatment options for SANDF members living with AIDS. This will help in answering research questions of relevance to South Africa both on anti-retroviral and non-anti-retroviral therapies. The project aims to develop the infrastructure in SANDF to conduct state-of-the-art clinical research.

Dr. Henry Mazur, senior clinical researcher from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the NIH and Dr. Stephanie Brodine, representative of the U.S. DoD and member of the Project Phidisa Executive Committee spoke at today's ceremony.

Below are their remarks:

<b>Dr. Henry Mazur: </b> Thank you very much, General Radebe. On behalf of the National Institutes of Health, I am very pleased to be here. I am pleased to have this opportunity to cooperate with the South African Government, with the Deputy Defense Minister, with Ambassador Hume, and with every one else in this room who has made this project possible. Having this meeting here reminds us all, I think, of how HIV began and the importance that research has had in helping us to understand and deal with the problem.

In 1979 I had the opportunity as a young physician to see a patient with pneumocystitis pneumonia in New York City. It was not clear at that time what the problem was, but over the next few months and few years it became clear that a new disease, namely AIDS, had come to our attention and was causing considerable morbidity and mortality in the United States and elsewhere.

There were many misconceptions about this disease. It was thought that this was a disease that did not happen to "us," that it only happened to homosexual individuals who were not part of our families, part of our communities. We thought that this disease was caused by a micro plasma not a virus. We thought that there was no hope, that everyone would die.

It was through research that we came to understand this disease. We understood that this was a disease that affected all strata of society: heterosexual, homosexual, intravenous drug abusers, recipients of blood transfusions. We needed to learn about this disease, and it was only through research that we were able to learn about it.

It was only through research that we were able to learn that this was not a hopeless disease, that this was a disease that we could understand, and that we could treat. And, as we are all well aware now, there are dramatic things that we can do for patients with HIV in order to improve and prolong their lives.

But we have to recognize that AIDS is a disease that constantly teaches us lessons. The lessons that we have learned in North America or Western Europe may not all be relevant in South Africa, in India or China. We must study the disease here to make sure that our current knowledge about transmission, about natural history, about therapy, is valid in this context. Research is the background for getting this information. Knowledge is the way for us to move forward.

I salute the South African National Defense Forces, the Deputy Defense Minister, General Radebe and everyone who is here. We are delighted to be able to take part in this research effort so that we can continue to improve the health of the population of the world as well as the population here in South Africa. Thank you for this opportunity.

<b>Dr. Stephanie Brodine:</b> I think it is very unfair that I am following Dr. Mazur (laughter), but it is extremely exciting and it is truly a privilege for me to be here today to represent the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and to celebrate with the Defense Minister's Office, with the U.S. Embassy, with the SANDF, with the NIH, and also with the Henry Jackson Foundation the first enrollments for Project Phidisa.

This target date was set a year ago. At the time we recognized that this was a very aggressive timeline. However, the seriousness of the problem and the opportunity that to intervene for the SANDF soldiers and their families and to begin, in fact, to save lives led us to a resolve and a commitment through which we were able to overcome the bureaucracies of two countries and three organizations. We were able to overcome time zones, vast distances. As referenced by General Radebe, there have been frequent deployments -- whether they be weekend or they be months or weeks long -- on both sides, away from families and friends, in order to make this happen.

The US DoD would like to recognize the encouragement and the prodding from US Ambassador Hume and the Embassy's Health Attache who, very early on, saw the great potential of this project. Likewise, I want to highlight the support and the inspiration at key intersects from the Deputy Defence Minister, the leadership and the support of Surgeon General van Rensburg and the true vision of General Radebe and General Motumi as they moved an entire organization and its people, bringing to this project passionate capable individuals. Also I want to cite the willingness of NIH to creatively collaborate with this new consortium in order to create an unprecedented clinical research capability here in South Africa.

Lastly, throughout this, the US DoD has not only been proud to be a part of Project Phidisa, but we are encouraged by the reminders that our mission is to provide better health care for people in uniform no matter where they are. We are finally at this exciting moment where Project Phidisa gets off the ground. We are also bringing our work as organizations and as individuals to a whole new level as US DoD teams and NIH teams come flying into South Africa to work at the clinical sites. The project can now actually bring medication to the SANDF and its personnel, as well begin the important research and to expand Project Phidisa to now include the whole clinical staff of these facilities.

These are exciting times. I do wish that Project Co-Chair Admiral Cliff Lane and Cmdr. Rick Schaeffer were here to see this as well but they will be back and who knows where Project Phidisa will go. Thank you."