Africa: Historic Africa-Led HIV Vaccine Trial Begins in Cape Town

6 February 2026
Health-e (Cape Town)
By Faith Mutizira

South Africa has moved a step closer to an HIV vaccine with the launch of the BRILLIANT 011 clinical trial at the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation (DTHF) site at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town. The first participant has already been enrolled.

The trial forms part of the BRILLIANT Consortium, an African-led research initiative working to develop an HIV vaccine designed for strains circulating in Southern Africa.

We spoke to Dr Sheetal Kassim, a clinical researcher at the DTHF and principal investigator, about what this milestone means, how the vaccine works, and why vaccine research led by Africans remains a key part of the fight against HIV in our region.

Watch the full video below.

This article is republished under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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