This is the VOA Special English Development Report.
An American organization called Architecture for Humanity hasannounced an international competition to design a traveling medicalcenter. The organization says the medical center will be used tofight AIDS in Africa. The vehicle will carry equipment to test andtreat people with the disease. Medical experts will also use thevehicle to provide information about AIDS and the H-I-V virus thatcauses it.
United Nations officials estimatethat about twenty-five-million people in Africa are infected withAIDS or H-I-V. However, only about two-hundred-thousand victimsliving in cities are able to get treatment. AIDS victims living infarming areas rarely get the medicine they need. This is wheretraveling medical centers are needed.
Cameron Sinclair launched Architecture for Humanity innineteen-ninety-nine. The organization supports using design tosolve social and humanitarian problems around the world. MisterSinclair says the competition is not restricted to just buildingdesigners. Anyone can enter a plan. He says the goal is to design ahealth center that medical experts could drive around Africa.Builders should be able to make the vehicle with materials found inAfrica. The medical center should also be designed to help meetother health care needs of the population. For example, officialsmay also use the centers to treat people with malaria andtuberculosis.
Proposals must be received byArchitecture for Humanity by November first. A team of healthexperts, building designers and research officials will judge theproposals. They will announce the winning plan in New York City onWorlds AIDS Day December first. Then, an example of the vehicle willbe developed before a final version is built in Africa. In time,officials hope the traveling medical centers will be reproduced inother parts of the world.
There is no prize for winning this competition. Instead, MisterSinclair says the winner will have the honor of creating a modernmedical center that could save millions of lives. To find out moreabout the competition, write to Architecture for Humanity,one-six-five West Twentieth Street, New York, New York,one-zero-zero-one-one, U-S-A. Or, visit the group’s Web site atw-w-w-dot-architectureforhumanity-dot-org.
This VOA Special English Development Report was written by JillMoss.