United Nations officials expect a unification of AIDS study programs sponsored by six international organizations to significantly enhance laboratory research and other efforts to combat the disease worldwide.

The program, called the Joint and Co-Sponsored U.N. Program on HIV/AIDS, was first proposed by the World Health Organization's (WHO) executive board of directors in January of this year. It was given final approval by the U.N. Economic and Social Council last month. Expected to be fully functional by January 1996, the program would link AIDS-related activities of six participating organizations: WHO; the World Bank; the U.N. Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); the U.N. Development Program (UNDP); the U.N. International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF); and the U.N. Fund for Population (UNFP). Researchers and others involved in the consolidation envision the program as a central resource to which members of the six participating organizations can turn for funding and guidance in both...

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