Project SIDA (1984–1991), or Projet SIDA ("Project AIDS" in French), was a joint scientific project between Zaire, the United States, and Belgium to study AIDS in Central Africa. Headquartered in Kinshasa, Zaire (DRC), Projet SIDA was designed as a collaboration between foreign scientists with experience studying epidemics and local scientists and physicians familiar with the local culture and customs. Initiated in 1984, Project SIDA began under the direction of Jonathan Mann with funding from the U.S. and Belgium, as well as support from the Zairian government. Project SIDA was based at Mama Yemo (Kinshasa General) hospital in Kinshasa.
Early on, Projet SIDA researchers confirmed the presence of AIDS outside of the United States through laboratory testing of blood samples collected by Bila Kapita. Unlike in the United States, where most identified AIDS cases were male, Projet SIDA identified an equal number of male and female AIDS patients at Mama Yemo. Thus, the project was one of the first to establish the heterosexual transmission of AIDS.[1]
Project SIDA was terminated in 1991 due to civil war in Zaire.