AIDS researchers urge global vaccine initiative

Leading international AIDS institutions have called for a global HIV/AIDS vaccine initiative, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. A policy statement signed recently by two dozen researchers and public-health officials said it was "unrealistic" to expect private industry to shoulder the burden alone. "A well-coordinated global enterprise necessary to drive this scientific effort does not exist and must be created," the statement read. It warned that if HIV/AIDS continued at its current pace without a vaccine, some 45 million new infections could be expected by 2010. With only seven new vaccine candidates entering clinical trials in 2001 and 2002, attempts to manufacture an effective HIV/AIDS vaccine have failed.