A hopeful note penetrated the gloomy atmosphere at the weeklong International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa, yesterday when it was announced that the first vaccine cultivated to fight the African strain of the virus had been cleared for testing on humans.
The vaccine, the joint product of research teams from Oxford University and the University of Kenya, is known as a DNA vaccine, and is based on genetic material extracted from the human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV), widely identified as the major cause of AIDS.
The development of a safe vaccine is generally believed to be indispensable to the campaign to eradicate the epidemic in Africa, where more than 25 million people are believed to be HIV-positive. The DNA vaccine, however, could take up to 10 years before it is in general use.
In the interim, while powerful but expensive drugs are available, it would cost an estimated $60 billion a year to treat the 12 million people in need of treatment, a cost far above the means of most of the poor countries where AIDS is concentrated.
American researchers said cheap and widely-used antibiotics might also help to contain the disease. Dr Kenneth Castro, of the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said such antibiotics were cheaper and often easier to use and "offer enormous promise in reducing morbidity and mortality associated with HIV-related disease".
In Durban yesterday President Thabo Mbeki found himself again under attack for his apparent refusal to acknowledge that AIDS is caused by HIV and for his refusal to make AZT, an anti-retroviral drug which helps prevent mother-to-infant transmission of AIDS, available to pregnant South African women.
Britain's International Development Secretary, Ms Clare Short, attacked the Catholic Church for being a "burden" in the fight against AIDS in Africa.
She said the church was wrong not to help distribute condoms to those who could be in danger from the disease.
"The Catholic Church opposes contraception, but most Catholics in the world use it," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"The Catholic Church is stuck and wrong on these questions, but lots of Catholics ignore the church's teaching, including good priests and nuns who are in favour of condoms being made available. That is just another burden in dealing with this thing better," she said.