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The South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative (SAAVI) is set to benefit from a pledge of almost US $590,000 made by two of the country's largest employers.
According to a recent SAAVI statement, research and development of an effective HIV/AIDS vaccine will receive around $369,000 over five years from Impala Platinum Holdings, while the transport parastatal, Transnet, had donated about $222,000.
The first of several human trials of an HIV vaccine to be conducted in the country were announced by SAAVI in November 2003.
The donations were welcomed by SAAVI director Dr Tim Tucker, who said: "HIV vaccine research and development is an expensive, long-term undertaking, and will require ongoing support and partnerships such as this from all sectors to be successful."
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions