Between 1984 and 1991, Projet SIDA, the pathbreaking HIV/AIDS research project based in Kinshasa, Zaire, was an intellectual powerhouse, uncovering and documenting the clinical and epidemiological aspects of AIDS. The project was jointly sponsored by the Zairian Ministry of Public Health, the Belgian Institute for Tropical Medicine, and two U.S. entities, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In its final years, the project employed 300 people, with only five expatriates, and prided itself on advancing the careers of Zairian researchers. The NIH’s Thomas Quinn credited the project’s many years of success with “publishing 10 papers a year…and really writing the history of AIDS in Africa.” But most histories do not account for the Zairian doctors, scientists, and researchers like Bila Kapita and Ngaly Bosenge who carried out the work. This paper argues that Projet SIDA helped create the category of AIDS in Africa through their research, publications, and health diplomacy in international meetings. By situating the project in its Zairean context, we see the young professionals at the beginnings of their careers and the carefully calibrated political maneuvering required in Mobutu’s capital. The paper draws on archival collections and oral histories to show that Project SIDA was a product of Kinshasa, and from there helped define AIDS in Africa.
Time: February 17, 2026, 10am-12pm
Venue: Auditorium Vandenhove, Rozier 1, 9000 Ghent
For more information: https://www.grh.ugent.be/activities/