Johannesburg — Cheaper to treat HIV/Aids: Three million Aids deaths can be averted and more than 2,5-million HIV infections prevented by 2015 through the implementation of voluntary counselling and testing, mother-to-child transmission prevention, improved management of sexually transmitted infections and highly active anti-retroviral therapy, according to a study by the Centre for Actuarial Research. The study says the cost of highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) for adults will gradually increase from R224-million this year to a peak of R18,1-billion in 2015. "With a realistic price reduction in anti-retroviral medicines to R300 a month for a first-line regimen and R450 a month for a second-line regimen, the cost of adult HAART can be reduced to R14,1-billion in 2015."

More money: The South African Aids Vaccine Initiative has announced that the development of three potential HIV vaccines designed in South Africa would receive multimillion-rand support, after showing promise in laboratory testing. These vaccines will soon enter the manufacturing process and safety testing that precedes human clinical trials. The three candidate HIV vaccine products incorporate the genetic sequences of South African strains of HIV (subtype C). It is hoped they will prove safe and induce immune responses, and eventually show some protective properties in humans.

Sources: The South African Vaccine Initiative and the Treatment Action Campaign\