South
Africa Tests AIDS Vaccine
South
Africa is launching clinical trials of the first
AIDS vaccines created by a developing country, a
rare feat by scientists.
Anthony Mbewu, President of South Africa's
government-supported Medical Research Council, said
in an interview that the trials, to test the safety
of the vaccines in humans, begin this month on 36
healthy volunteers.
A trial of 12 volunteers in the United States began
earlier this year.
Sponsors
The Medical Research Council, a respected
organization shepherded the project.
Mbewu said the vaccine was designed at the
University of Cape Town with technical help from the
U.S. National Institutes of Health, which also
manufactured the vaccine.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the U.S. National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease and a
leading AIDS researcher, was in South Africa for the
launch.
The initiative
About 5.2 million South Africans were said to be
living with HIV last year, the highest number of any
country in the world. Young women are hardest hit,
with one-third of those aged 20 to 34 infected with
the virus.
In 1999, the ministries of health and of science and
technology founded the vaccine initiative and
injected 250 million rand into it over nearly 10
years.
250 scientists and technicians worked on the
project, along the way gaining scores of doctorates
and producing work for professional publications as
well as a model for continued biotechnology
development in South Africa.
The government decided it was important to develop a
vaccine specifically for the HIV sub type C-strain
that is prevalent in southern Africa and to ensure
that once developed, it would be available at an
affordable price.
AP/Saint/Yinka