Africans demand more funds for AIDS research

An HIV/AIDS vaccine offers the best hope of controlling the pandemic in Africa, leading scientists said on Monday at the opening of a two-day meeting of the African AIDS Vaccine Programme (AAVP) in Cape Town, South Africa.

HIV/AIDS was a "nightmare" for Africa but the development of a vaccine for the continent was a "dream worth dreaming", Jose Esparaza, coordinator of the World Health Organisation (WHO)/UNAIDS HIV Vaccine Initiative, told about 200 delegates attending the meeting.

Two-thirds of all people living with HIV are in Africa, yet African vaccine research received only 1.6 percent of the US $2.5 billion spent on HIV research annually, he said.

The African AIDS Vaccine Programme - a network of African scientists promoting HIV vaccine development in Africa - launched its first forum this week in an attempt to raise US $233 million in research funds and define a plan of action for the next seven years. The AAVP uses an active strategy of recruiting African scientists and institutions, partly in response to the inadequacy of research infrastructures.

Ebrahim Sambo, Regional Director of the WHO Regional Office for Africa, cautioned that without resources, dreams of an HIV/AIDS vaccine for Africa would become "idle endeavours".

After 21 years of awareness of the pandemic, there still has not been any vaccine testing on humans. No promising vaccines had made it out of the laboratories, said Seth Berkely, president of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI).

The road to finding an HIV vaccine involved more than just research, it was critical to engage all levels of society, he added.

Matilde Mogale, of the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, South Africa, related how the hospital's community advisory board was creating HIV/AIDS vaccine awareness in the township.

"People are interested in the vaccine as a hope, they want to know more and want to contribute," she said.

Vaccine discussion groups in the townships had generated positive responses.