LONDON, Aug 31 (AFP) - A British member of parliament on Thursday became the first human guinea pig for a vaccine against the deadly AIDS virus which scientists hope could eventually save millions of lives.

Dr Evan Harris, a former family doctor, was the first of 20 British volunteers who will be injected with the vaccine to test if it creates immunity to the disease.

But researchers have cautioned that it will be at least ten years before the vaccine can be widely used to help prevent the deadly virus.

The trial is being conducted by the Human Immunology Unit of Britain's Medical Research Council.

Scientists working there hope the vaccine will stimulate the body to produce T-cells which will destroy cells infected by HIV -- the virus that leads to AIDS -- fast enough to stop an infection from taking hold.

If the first phase of the clinical trials is successful, they plan to repeat them in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, in six months' time.

The Human Immunology Unit's trial is one of several being carried out by AIDS researchers around the world, but is thought to be the first vaccine actually tested on humans.

The British vaccine is the first which is specifically designed to target the A-strain HIV-1 virus, the most prevalent strain in Africa where the disease is at its most rampant and threatens to wipe out large sections of the population.

Harris, an MP with the opposition Liberal Democrat Party, volunteered to take part in the trials and was accepted after rigorous screening.

"I am confident the vaccine is safe and that it will prime the immune system to be able to protect against HIV infection," he said. "I am taking part in this trial as I believe that finding an effective vaccine is our best hope to control this devastating disease."

Andrew McMichael, director of the unit conducting the trial, said he did not think the test would be dangerous for the volunteers taking part.

He added that it would take about ten years before scientists could be satisfied that the vaccine was safe and that it was effective. "We're on the first steps of a mountain," he told BBC radio.

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