History of BIPAI

2011

Opens two centers of excellence in Tanzania

Learn more about BIPAI Tanzania.

2010

Hosts 1st Libyan HIV/AIDS Conference and 12th BIPAI Network Meeting

The First Libyan HIV Conference and 12th BIPAI network meeting is held in Benghazi, Libya. The meeting represents the first pediatric HIV/AIDS conference ever held in Libya and was attended by more than 60 BIPAI network delegates from Libya, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Romania and the U.S.
Learn more about BIPAI Libya.

Establishes sickle cell disease program in Angola

Chevron USA , in partnership with BIPAI, Texas Children’s Hospital and the Angola Ministry of Health, establish a national sickle cell disease initiative in Angola. The multi-year project will provide screening, diagnosis, care, treatment, monitoring and evaluation, research, capacity building, community mobilization and health professional training in Angola.
Learn more about BIPAI Angola.

38th Annual Jefferson Awards honor BIPAI founder

Mark W. Kline, M.D., physician-in-chief at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston and chair of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, was honored with the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award for Outstanding Community Service Benefiting Local Communities during the 38th annual Jefferson Awards for his dedication to treating children affected by HIV/AIDS around the world.
Learn more.

Refurbishes pediatric ward at Malawi hospital

A public-private partnership between BIPAI, the Malawi Ministry of Health and the Abbott Fund results in dramatically improved health systems infrastructure at Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi. The project includes the complete renovation of an inpatient pediatric ward and building a new annex staff building and short stay emergency care ward, which improves sanitary conditions and reduces crowding.
Learn more.

Publishes fourth edition of HIV Curriculum for the Health Professional

2009

BIPAI announces new leadership team

BIPAI founder Dr. Mark Kline leaves day-to-day operations of BIPAI to a new leadership team when he is selected to be chair of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and physician-in-chief at Texas Children’s Hospital. Kline remains the president of BIPAI.
Learn more.

BIPAI renews project for Kenya

BIPAI Kenya abandoned construction of its center of excellence in 2008 due to post-election political and social unrest in Kenya. In 2009, BIPAI, Texas Children’s Hospital and the Kenyan Ministries of Health execute a memorandum of agreement to support construction and operational support of a BIPAI center of excellence at the New Nyanza Provincial General Hospital in Kisumu, Kenya.
Learn more about BIPAI Kenya.

2008

Construction begins on first of 10 satellite facilities in Lesotho

BIPAI and the Lesotho Ministry of Health break ground on 10 satellite clinics. These clinics will ensure that children in remote areas have access to state-of-the art HIV/AIDS care and treatment services. Prime Minister Pakalitha Bethuel Mosisili and members of his cabinet join Dr. Mark Kline and more than 3,000 attendees for a sod-turning event in Butha-Buthe, Lesotho. Learn more.

Opens center of excellence in Uganda

The Baylor College of Medicine-Bristol-Myers Squibb-Texas Children's Hospital-Children's Clinical Centre of Excellence opens on the campus of Mulago Hospital in Kampala, Uganda. President Yoweri Museveni of the Republic of Uganda officially opens the center, joined by officials from the Ugandan government, U.S. government, BIPAI and the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation.
Learn more about BIPAI Uganda. 

Establishes program in Ethiopia

Learn more about BIPAI Ethiopia. 

Launches program in Tanzania

BIPAI expands to Tanzania and announces that it will build two centers of excellence there. The United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) provides BIPAI with $22.5 million over five years to support the operations of the two centers and associated satellite clinic facilities. The centers are located in the cities of Mbeya and Mwanza.

2007

Breaks ground for BIPAI Burkina Faso center of excellence

BIPAI breaks ground in January 2007, for the Baylor-Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Center of Excellence in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. In partnership with the Pediatrics Department at Centre Hospitalier Universitaire – Sanou Souro, BIPAI opens a temporary one-room pediatric HIV clinic at the hospital. Ten rooms in the pediatrics department are renovated later with support from BIPAI in order to expand care for HIV-infected mother-child pairs. BIPAI pulls out of Burkina Faso in 2009.

HIV/AIDS International Laboratory Center of Excellence opens in Romania

BIPAI expands in a new direction with the opening of a state-of-the-art laboratory at the Stefan S. Nicolau Institute of Virology in Bucharest, Romania. The lab is a joint project of the Nicolau Institute, Baylor College of Medicine and BIPAI. Fund are provided by a grant from Abbott Fund. Trainees and faculty exchange between the lab in Bucharest and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.

Rededicates Romania center of excellence

BIPAI rededicates the Romanian-American Children’s Center in Constanta and changes its name to the Romanian Clinical Center of Excellence. The center is a joint program of the Infectious Diseases Hospital Constanta, Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital with sustaining funds from the Abbott Fund. This changes reflects the center’s transition from pediatric health care to health care for all ages of Romanians infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.
Learn more about BIPAI Romania. 

Breaks ground for Habitat for Humanity housing in Romania

Habitat for Humanity breaks ground for three studio apartments on the grounds of BIPAI Romania’s Flower House. These new apartments help abandoned or orphaned HIV-infected teens learn independent living skills as they transition out of Flower House, a group home for HIV-infected children.

Establishes programs in Kenya and Mozambique

2006

Center of excellence in Swaziland opens

The Baylor College of Medicine-Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Clinical Center of Excellence - Swaziland opens as the first pediatric center dedicated to caring for HIV/AIDS-infected infants and children in Swaziland. Swaziland has the highest prevalence of AIDS in the world.
Learn more about BIPAI Swaziland. 

First 52 PAC doctors deployed to Africa

The first contingent of pediatricians recruited to the Pediatric AIDS Corps arrives on the African continent in August 2006.
Learn more about the PAC program and its successor the Texas Children’s Global Health Service Corps. 

Center of excellence in Malawi opens

Baylor College of Medicine-Abbott Fund Children's Clinical Center of Excellence-Malawi opens as that country's first pediatric HIV clinic.
Learn more about BIPAI Malawi. 

UNICEF names BIPAI primary global partner for pediatric HIV/AIDS care and treatment

UNICEF partners with BIPAI to accelerate the expansion of pediatric HIV/AIDS care, treatment and support. The partnership is part of the global Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS campaign, which seeks an AIDS-free generation, and focuses on prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission and care and treatment of children living with HIV. BIPAI provides technical support, trains local health care workers, provides high-quality care, and identifies HIV-infected children early to initiate treatment.

2005

Establishes Pediatric AIDS Corps

A partnership between Bristol-Myers Squibb, Baylor College of Medicine and BIPAI helps alleviate the physician shortage in sub-Saharan Africa. The Corps sends up to 50 pediatricians and other primary care physicians each year to Africa over a period of five years to help expand the care and treatment of HIV-infected children and families. The Corps provide cares to children with HIV/AIDS and trains African health professionals to provide such care.
Learn more about the Pediatric AIDS Corps.

Center of excellence in Maseru, Lesotho opens

The Baylor College of Medicine-Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Clinical Center of Excellence – Lesotho opens the doors to the first medical center dedicated to caring for HIV/AIDS-infected infants and children in Lesotho, on World AIDS Day 2005. Lesotho is one of the countries hardest-hit by HIV/AIDS. Upon opening, the number of pediatricians in the country increases three-fold. Located near Queen Elizabeth II Hospital and the National Nurse Training Center, the facility also offers training for local health professionals in pediatric HIV/AIDS care and treatment.
Learn more about BIPAI Lesotho. 

2004

Receives PEPFAR funds and enters Uganda

BIPAI receives approximately $10 million over five years from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. This money is used for the care and treatment of HIV-infected children in Uganda and Botswana. BIPAI also receives a supplemental five-year award from the CDC is for the development of a comprehensive care and treatment program for HIV-infected children in these countries.

BIPAI works closely with the pediatric staff of the Uganda’s Makerere University and Mulago Hospital to implement its program.

Formalizes the BIPAI Children’s Clinical Centers of Excellence Network

The BIPAI network commits to high quality, high impact, highly ethical pediatric and family HIV/AIDS care and treatment and health professional training. It is designed to catalyze expanded access of HIV-infected children and families to lifesaving HIV/AIDS care and treatment.

Libya invites BIPAI help its children with HIV/AIDS

In 2004, the U.S. State Department and Gaddafi Foundation ask BIPAI to assist in the care and treatment of more than 400 HIV-infected children in Benghazi. In 2006, the State Department awards a grant to BIPAI to continue its work there.

2003

Opens center of excellence in Gaborone, Botswana

BIPAI opens a comprehensive pediatric HIV/AIDS care and treatment center in partnership with the government of Botswana in Gaborone – named the Botswana-Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Clinical Center of Excellence. This facility, the first of its kind on the African continent, provides state-of-the-art care and treatment to over 4,100 HIV-infected children and families from Gaborone and across Botswana.

The Botswana-Baylor Children's Clinical Center of Excellence was made possible by a $6 million grant from the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation's Secure the Future program. Additional funds come from the Fogarty International Center of the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Global AIDS Program.
Learn more about BIPAI Botswana. 

2002

Becomes CDC University Technical Assistance Partner

BIPAI receives U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funding as a University Technical Assistance Partner, one of only 10 such centers at U.S. medical schools. A tangible outgrowth of that funding is Pediatric Antiretroviral Dosing in Resource-limited Settings, an easy-to-use chart on antiretroviral drug doses for infants and children as recommended by the World Health Organization.

2001

Opens center of excellence in Constanta, Romania

Centrul de Copii Romano-American, Europe’s largest pediatric HIV/AIDS care and treatment center, includes a state-of-the-art outpatient clinic, inpatient observation unit, laboratory, pharmacy and specimen processing area, classrooms and apartments for visiting health professionals. The Romanian-American Children’s Center is coordinated and staffed collaboratively by Romanian and U.S. health professionals, including physician and nurse-specialists from BIPAI.

Sustaining funds for the Centrul de Copii Romano-American come from Abbott Laboratories and the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word.

2000

Fogarty International Center of the U.S. National Institutes of Health funds AITRP

AIDS International Training and Research Program (AITRP) supports postdoctoral training of two to three years in HIV/AIDS research at Baylor College of Medicine for health-professionals from partner countries. Each postdoctoral trainee declares a principal interest in one of two tracks: (1) clinical research or (2) laboratory-based research. In addition, trainees may pursue a graduate degree in public health (M.P.H.) at the University of Texas School of Public Health. AITRP funding is renewed in 2006 for an additional five years.
Learn more about AITRP. 

Health professional education continues in Romania

Over the years, Baylor sponsors a number of conferences for Romanian health professionals, including a National Congress on AIDS in Romania, two Pediatric Pain Management Conferences and 10 Romanian-American Pediatric HIV Nursing Symposia.

A total of 600 Romanian physicians, nurses and social workers have attended these sponsored conferences. Baylor develops a comprehensive HIV/AIDS nursing education curriculum, which is used first at the Romanian-American Pediatric HIV Nursing Symposium in September 2000. These educational conferences and curricula are essential to building capacity for HIV care, treatment and clinical research.

1999

Begins working in Africa with Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Secure the Future

When Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation announces its Secure the Future program, BIPAI is one of the first organizations tapped to work to fight HIV/AIDS in this hardest-hit region of the world. Again, education of health care providers - particularly nurses and nursing students - is critical to help children with HIV.

Publishes first HIV Nursing Curriculum

The HIV Nursing Curriculum is developed by BIPAI and African partners to communicate all aspects of HIV/AIDS diagnosis, treatment and care. Today, its sequel HIV Curriculum for the Health Professional is in its fourth edition and is available for download.

1998

Establishes Mexico health professional education and training program

In collaboration with Hospital Infantil de Mexico, the BIPAI joins an ambitious program of education and training for Mexican health professionals, and a clinic development program to improve care for HIV-infected children in Mexico. The program is supported by the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation.

The program, called Una Mano a Los Mas Pequenos (A Hand to the Smallest Ones), holds a series of symposia and workshops on pediatric HIV/AIDS for Mexican health professionals. More than 2,000 Mexican professionals attend these meetings over eight years and several Spanish language educational resources are developed, including:

• Health Professional Curriculum on the Prevention and Management of Perinatal HIV/AIDS
• Options for Children: A Guide to Antiretroviral Therapies
• Kids to Kids Video Program

1996

BIPAI begins

Dr. Mark Kline flies home to Houston, Texas, after a week in Romania. His tour of hospitals, clinics and orphanages in the snowbound, eastern European country had shocked him. Children with HIV/AIDS in Romania were dying at a time when new drugs - highly active antiretroviral treatment - were revolutionizing treatment of the disease in the Western world.

Dr. Kline emerged from the plane with a plan to help the HIV-infected children of Romania and, eventually, other resource-limited nations worldwide. He names it the Baylor College of Medicine International Pediatric AIDS Initiative (BIPAI) and recruits a cadre of dedicated professionals to bring high-quality HIV/AIDS care to children in desperate need.

Launches Romania health professional education and training program

Building on relationships established during his first visit to Romania, Dr. Kline and several colleagues launch a program to help health professionals treat their youngest patients, even though the most effective drugs were lacking. Nurse education and training, in particular, becomes critically important since most cases of HIV infection in Romania stem from children’s exposure in a health care setting. The professional education and training program provides crucial training in infection control as well as treatment and care.