Kaisernetwork.org (Washington, DC)
22 August 2007
Science & Medicine
HIV Vaccine Research Should Focus on Developing Vaccine That Prevents Transmission Rather Than Infection, Researchers Say
[Aug 22, 2007]
The most practical goal for an HIV vaccine is to prevent HIV transmission rather than infection with the virus, researchers said at the four-day AIDS Vaccine 2007 Conference, which began Monday in Seattle, the Seattle Times reports. According to the Times, experts believe a vaccine is the only way to eradicate HIV/AIDS because the most common modes of transmission -- sexual contact, injection drug use and mother-to-child transmission during childbirth or breast-feeding -- are impossible to eliminate completely.
Most current HIV vaccine candidates focus on producing cytotoxic CD4+ T cells, which attack HIV-infected cells in the body, according to conference Chair Lawrence Corey, who also is the principal investigator of the HIV Vaccine Trials Network and the head of virology at the University of Washington. Corey added that such vaccines might not prevent an HIV-negative person from contracting the virus but would delay HIV from progressing to AIDS and prevent transmission to others.
Pat Fast, executive director for medical affairs at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, said another challenge in vaccine research is that HIV strains vary among people and regions. Vaccine trial participants are chosen based on health standards for industrialized nations, and many people in developing countries are not healthy enough to participate in trials, the Times reports. A coalition of HIV research groups on Monday released laboratory guidelines targeted at African populations to enable increased participation in HIV vaccine trials. "It makes sense to try (the vaccine) on the population you'll be giving it to," Fast said, adding, "What's normal in Peoria may not be normal" in Africa (Song, Seattle Times, 8/21).
Related Editorial
"Treating those infected with HIV or who have" developed AIDS is "critical," but "no one should forget that there is no way out of the AIDS epidemic without a vaccine," a Times editorial says. The "good news" is that "[o]ptimism" for developing a vaccine "is high," the editorial adds. The creation of the Global HIV/AIDS Vaccine Enterprise and funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation "have attracted more scientists ... to the vaccine search," the editorial says, adding, "These are exciting times in immunological and infectious diseases arenas" (Seattle Times, 8/21).
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Global Challenges
Human Rights Watch Criticizes UNAIDS for Praising China's HIV/AIDS Efforts, Cites Harassment Against Advocates
[Aug 22, 2007]
Human Rights Watch in a statement released on Monday said China continues to violate the rights of HIV/AIDS advocates and criticized UNAIDS for recently praising the government's approach to tackling the disease, AFP/Yahoo! News reports (AFP/Yahoo! News, 8/20).
UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot in July praised China's efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS, saying that the country has made progress in increasing access to antiretroviral drugs and that the government and society increasingly are willing to address the country's HIV/AIDS situation. Piot also said that harassment of civil society advocates remains a concern in the country (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 7/18). HRW said advocates in China's Guangdong and Henan provinces had been forced to cancel three meetings in recent weeks, in one case because the issue was considered "too sensitive" for public discussion, AFP/Yahoo! News reports (AFP/Yahoo! News, 8/20).
Zhu Zhaowu -- who leads the Henan branch of the group Dong Zhen, which provides legal aid to people with HIV/AIDS -- said officials went to his office last Wednesday and gave him two days to move. He said agents with the Kaifeng city Commerce and Industry Bureau called his group an "illegal organization conducting illegal activities." One of the group's activity centers in the province's Ruanjia village also was forced to close last week, he said.
According to Dong Zhen Director Li Dan, the organization planned to co-host a conference earlier this month in Guangdong province with New York-based Asia Catalyst. However, the manager of the hotel where the conference was to be hosted said police requested it be canceled, according to Li (Chang, AP/Washington Post, 8/21).
"The Chinese government's intensifying crackdown on HIV/AIDS activists deserves international condemnation, not baseless praise," Joe Amon, HRW HIV/AIDS director, said in the statement, adding, "UNAIDS should make it clear to the Chinese government that ongoing persecution of HIV/AIDS activists is wrong, counterproductive and threatens efforts to contain the disease" (AFP/Yahoo! News, 8/20). Amon said that "individuals and groups dedicated to addressing the enormous suffering wrought by China's HIV/AIDS epidemic" deserve "praise and support, not intimidation tactics by state security forces" (AP/Washington Post, 8/21). He added, "If the Chinese government had devoted as much energy to halting the epidemic as it has to persecuting activists, untold numbers of lives could have been saved" (AFP/Yahoo! News, 8/20).
According to the AP/Post, officials did not comment immediately on the cases. The Guangdong Public Security Bureau said it is not authorized to discuss the matter and referred questions to the Ministry of Public Security. The public security bureau in Kaifeng said it is not aware of the cases (AP/Washington Post, 8/21). An estimated 650,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS in China, and health experts say the disease is spreading to the general population primarily by sexual transmission (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 8/16).
The HRW statement is available online.
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HIV/AIDS Could 'Wipe Out' Lesotho, Official Says
[Aug 22, 2007]
HIV/AIDS has the "potential to wipe out" Lesotho because of its impact on the country's population and economy, Keketso Sefeane, chief executive of the National AIDS Commission, said at a workshop on Monday, Xinhua News Agency reports. According to Sefeane, the disease's impact on Lesotho's work force, including the loss of skills and experience, decreases economic productivity and hinders the sustainable delivery of goods and services to the country's population. "Absence, illness, deaths and early retirements due to HIV and AIDS have profound implications for economic development and social welfare," Sefeane said.
Representatives from Lesotho's ministries of defense, trade, public service, finance, cabinet and health attended the five-day workshop. Attendees were scheduled to create prevention programs, as well as care and support initiatives, to alleviate the impact of HIV/AIDS-related staff losses in the public sector. According to Sefeane, Lesotho's entire population should become involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS because the disease threatens the livelihoods of millions of workers and their dependents. About one in four adults in Lesotho is living with HIV, according to 2006 statistics from the United Nations (Xinhua News Agency, 8/20).
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POZ Examines How Stigma, Violence Fuel HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Jamaica
[Aug 22, 2007]
POZ in its August issue examined how stigma and violence are fueling the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Jamaica. According to POZ, HIV-positive people and men who have sex with men are discriminated against heavily in the country. The Caribbean has the highest HIV prevalence of any region outside sub-Saharan Africa, and Jamaica's prevalence is 1.5% and increasing, POZ reports. AIDS-related illnesses are the leading cause of death among people ages 15 to 44 in the region, according to POZ.
Many MSM in Jamaica have been reluctant to disclose their HIV-positive status because they fear discrimination if their sexual orientation or HIV status becomes known, and popular entertainers in the country openly have condoned violence against MSM and HIV-positive people, according to POZ. The fear of violence causes MSM to engage in high-risk sex rather than seek "stable, monogamous" relationships, according to Anthony Hron, an officer with the Jamaican Network of Seropositives, or JNPlus. According to POZ, an estimated 33% of MSM in Kingston, Jamaica, are HIV-positive, although the actual figure is unknown. In addition, many MSM in the country have sex with female partners, increasing the spread of the virus. Although almost 50% of HIV cases occur among women and heterosexual sex is the primary mode of transmission, homophobia fuels new cases among all groups in the country, POZ reports.
In addition, many heterosexual men have been reluctant to receive an HIV test because they do not want health workers to assume they are gay, Brendan Bain, director of the Caribbean HIV/AIDS Regional Training Network, said. About two-thirds of all HIV-positive people in the country are unaware of their status, POZ reports.
HIV/AIDS advocates are increasing HIV education in an effort to reduce the violence and discrimination. The Caribbean Broadcast Media Partnership -- which was launched in 2006 at a summit organized by The Caribbean Broadcast Corporation, Caribbean Broadcasting Union and the Kaiser Family Foundation -- aims to provide accurate information about HIV through the media. CBMP launched LIVE UP earlier this year to encourage and empower youth to learn more about HIV. The Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays and other advocacy groups are increasing efforts to reduce attacks against MSM and HIV-positive people, POZ reports (Scott, POZ, August 2007).
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Recent Releases
AVAC Releases 2007 Report on AIDS Vaccine Research, Development
[Aug 22, 2007]
"Resetting the Clock," AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition: The 2007 AVAC report's three sections outlined specific deadlines and obstacles in AIDS vaccine development strategies, clinical trials and the broader field of HIV prevention. The first section discussed the progress and challenges in funding and planning for the AIDS vaccine development field and examines the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise. The report also looked at clinical trial issues, including meeting trial capacity demands, establishing plans for releasing clinical trial results, and agreeing on standards of prevention and levels of care. In addition, the report investigated existing HIV prevention methods, as well as the potential benefits of some emerging HIV prevention strategies, including male circumcision and the human papillomavirus vaccine (AVAC, "Resetting the Clock," 8/21).
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