HIV/AIDS Vaccine Expected By 2010

By Charles Wendo A VACCINE against HIV/AIDS may be available by the year 2010, the Rockefeller Foundation Director of Health Equity Programmes, Timothy Evans, has said. Speaking at the Kampala Sheraton Hotel on Wednesday at a welcome dinner for delegates to the ongoing conference on AIDS care in Africa, Evans said despite intense efforts, a vaccine was unlikely to be available before the end of the decade. He said in the meantime, people who are already infected or those who will contract the virus in the coming few years would need care. "If the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative is to be successful, we may have a vaccine in 2010," Evans said. he said, "We are going to see an avalanche of resources moving towards HIV/AIDS care." The conference convened by the Rockefeller Foundation and hosted by The Joint Clinical Research Centre and Makerere University, has attracted experts from across Africa, America and Europe. The meeting is jointly sponsored by the Rockefeller, the US National Institute of Health, UNAIDS and the Global Forum for Health Research. The meeting is expected to refine, promote and build international support for African-led initiatives on AIDS drugs and treatment of patients to prolong their lives. Ends