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For Immediate Release
May 26, 2000
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Contact:
Lori Williams
Baylor College of Medicine
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Grant Helps Baylor Establish
Texas Pediatric HIV Resource Center
Houston, TX (MAY 26, 2000) -- A new resource center will offer assistance to health-care professionals treating kids with HIV and to patients' families. The Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative (BIPAI) received a $117,800 two-year grant from the Meadows Foundation to create a Texas Pediatric HIV Resource Center. The center will offer referral information and free educational materials.
"Thanks to the Meadows Foundation, we can share with health professionals and families a lot of practical information about living with HIV and AIDS," said Dr. Mark Kline, director of the BIPAI at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital in Houston.
"The resource center should be especially helpful to health professionals encountering their first child with the human immunodeficiency virus, because we have a pediatric starter kit that includes information on medical care and treatment, community resources, and legal regulations and reporting requirements," he said.
The new resource center has a toll-free number () and a page on the BIPAI Web site to help Texas families and health professionals find HIV-related resources around the state.
Referrals for routine care and clinical trials are available, along with a free brochure and video about how to take care of kids with HIV. The center also offers recipes for high-protein and high-calorie diets tailored to Texas taste buds, and activities around the state that might be of interest to kids with HIV and their families.
The grant will also fund other educational outreach efforts and travel expenses for kids with HIV seeking treatment, said Kline, professor of pediatrics at Baylor and pediatrician at Texas Children's.
The Meadows Foundation, based in Dallas, is a private philanthropic institution established in 1948 by Algur H. and Virginia Meadows to improve the quality of life for future generations of Texans.
The Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative provides comprehensive medical and social services to HIV-infected/exposed infants and children, educates U.S. and foreign health professionals about HIV, and conducts clinical research. The initiative is currently involved with programs in Houston, Romania, Mexico, Panama, and southern Africa.
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