Hope for Africa as new HIV Vaccine trial begins

gloria mari

December 1, 2017 2:41 PM

It's available across sub-Saharan Africa.

Tests to evaluate whether the new HIV vaccine is safe and its viability in reducing infection have begun.

The experimental HIV vaccine has been undergoing human trials bringing a ray of hope as the world marks World AIDS Day.

Clinical trials will assess the success of the vaccine through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and National Health Institute.

The new study called Imbokodo will be conducted among 2600 HIV negative women in sub-Saharan Africa.

Nearly 2 million people still get infected with HIV each year.

According to UNAIDS 60% of people living with HIV in East and Southern Africa are women.

The vaccine is designed to induce immune responses against HIV strains so as to make it a global vaccine.

The uniqueness of HIV has caused search for a vaccine to be fraught with challenges as HIV can rapidly mutate and create multiple strains and subtypes that are more common in different parts of the world.

Along with other experimental ways of preventing HIV such as the vaginal ring being tested in Malawi, the way forward is one that will be difficult in finally managing to eradicate the disease.

The first participants of the HIV vaccine human trials will be in South Africa but approvals to conduct more trials in more countries including Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe are being sought.

WORLD AIDS DAY

gloria mari