AIDS policy: There is no doubt a vaccine will be developed against the AIDS virus HIV, according to the head of an international body funding HIV research.
The question is will it be cheap enough to be useful and effective enough to block a virus that so readily changes shape to evade conventional treatments.
"Those are the questions that keep me awake at night," said Dr Seth Berkley, president and chief executive officer of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI). Dr Berkley was in Dublin yesterday to meet the Minister of State for Development, Mr Tom Kitt.
The IAVI is currently funding seven vaccine trials, five of them in humans. Set up in 1996, it puts $50 million a year into vaccine research, the goal being a workable treatment to stem the spread of HIV.
Governments had finally woken up to the threat posed by the virus, Dr Berkley said. This greater political awareness meant that governments were putting more money and effort into AIDS treatment and the search for a vaccine.
He praised the work done by the Government, which along with Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden the UK and the US, directly funds the work done by IAVI. "They have been quite politically active to ensure the AIDS vaccine stays on the agenda."
His visit yesterday arose because of Ireland's EU Presidency. Three international meetings on AIDS are planned during the Presidency including one later this month, one in April and one set for June.
The Government gave IAVI an initial grant of €4.9 million for the two years through 2002 and in 2003 a further €7.5million for the period through 2005. This is part of the €40 million committed by the Government during 2003 towards efforts to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS.
A vaccine was essential for the long-term control of the disease, Dr Berkley said. With 15,000 new HIV infections recorded worldwide each day, 95 per cent of them in developing countries, our ability to provide ongoing treatment for a rapidly growing number of patients would soon be overwhelmed without a vaccine.
IAVI was formed to fast-track the development of a vaccine. Drug companies were happy to research new treatments, but vaccine research commands only about two per cent of the $20 billion spent annually on AIDS prevention, research, and treatment.