HIV researchers in South Africa 'very competitive' globally, scientist says

South African doctors and researchers seem to be gaining confidence in their decades-long battle against HIV, international delegates at a conference in Cape Town say.  

The HIV Research for Prevention Conference is dedicated to biomedical HIV prevention research.

Sub-Saharan Africa remains the epicentre, with nearly 1 in every 20 adults living with HIV and accounting for 71 per cent of the people living with the illness worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.

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South Africa's minister of science and technology, Naledi Pandor, told the conference today it's time the country assumed more responsibility "to be a leading player in science and not a client of others."

The country’s government provides anti-retroviral medications to nearly 40 per cent of HIV-infected South Africans. On the research front, new labs, scientists, technicians and funding commitments are on the rise.

"They're very competitive for research funding elsewhere," said Canadian HIV researcher Cate Hankins, currently deputy director of science for the Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development.

Conference co-chair Anatoli Kamali, of Uganda's Medical Research Council, pointed out that a third of the research papers being presented this week are from African researchers.

Professor Robin Shattock of Imperial College London is another co-chair of the conference. Shattock said it makes sense to have people work across fields of prevention rather than working in a bubble.

The conference aims to build linkages between investigators in developing and developed countries to open the door to collaboration.

Before the conference closes on Oct. 31, scientists plan to present 550 research papers, such as new results on microbicidal gels and vaginal rings, to try to prevent HIV infections.