HIV/AIDS vaccine trials underway

The South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative (SAAVI) on Monday announced the start of the first of several human trials to be conducted in the country. According to Dr Glenda Gray, national principal investigator of the tests, Phase 1 of the trials includes concurrent testing of a preventive HIV/AIDS candidate, AVX101, in the United States and South Africa. The HIV Vaccine Trials Network, the vaccine research arm of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), will undertake the US tests. The vaccine trials, conducted in Soweto and the port city of Durban, will be looking at "the safety of the vaccine, and how the immune system responds," Gray said during a press briefing. A total of 24 participants in South Africa are involved in the first phase. Researchers estimate it will take at least 10 years before an HIV/AIDS vaccine is on the market. "This is the beginning of a long process. We are in kindergarten now - we want to get to university," Gray added. A trial of another vaccine, HIVA.MVA, designed by the University of Nairobi in Kenya and Oxford University in the United Kingdom, will start in South Africa next week with up to 55 volunteers. The first phase of human trials of the vaccine has been completed in Kenya and is underway in Uganda. A key difference in all these trials will be the involvement of communities, Dr Andrew Robinson of the SAAVI HIV Vaccine Research Unit in Durban, noted. "In other vaccine trials [communities are] usually involved at the end, and it is an unequal partnership between scientists and communities." Winnie Serobe is a 69-year old nurse and vaccine community advisory board (CAB) member at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital's Perinatal HIV Research Unit in Soweto. Her role is to liaise between the community and Unit researchers in educating volunteers and community members. The CAB includes traditional healers, representatives of women's groups, youth groups, religious leaders, nurses and counsellors. "There is big support for the vaccine - so many people are dying, especially young people. There is a concern that the vaccine is going to be seen as an answer to all our problems. Everybody is expecting it to be given widely. The community is saying: please let the vaccine come to everybody," she added. It was therefore essential to develop "appropriate community expectations" around the announcement of the start of the trials, SAAVI director Dr Tim Tucker warned. "What we are trying to put across is that a vaccine is not a panacea. We still need to advocate for health sexual practices." Nevertheless, the vaccine body's community preparedness efforts were starting to bear fruit, said SAAVI deputy director Dr Ashraaf Grimwood. The group has managed to reach 700 South African organisations, and has held up to 90 workshops since 2000. SAAVI now runs a toll-free vaccine line to answer the public's questions and has also developed school modules on HIV/AIDS vaccines. SAAVI's announcement could not have come at a better time - cabinet will be meeting soon to decide whether to approve an operational plan to introduce antiretroviral (ARV) drugs in the public health sector. Grimwood said: "This is a really good time for South Africa - once we have the rollout of ARVs, we will be able to see the limitations of treatment and see the need to continue pushing for the development of other strategies." "We might not have a vaccine in two or three years' time, but this has meant greater scientific infrastructure and participation for our communities. We are not only educating about vaccines, but raising general awareness about AIDS." For more on SAAVI: http://www.saavi.org