PARIS, Oct 19 (AFP) - Seven European countries issued a joint call here Tuesday for better lab coordination in the quest for an AIDS vaccine but sidestepped demands for commiting more money to the fight.
The declaration, issued by health ministers or their stand-ins from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden and a representative from the European Union's Commission, put the emphasis on greater collaboration among vaccine scientists.
"The global HIV/AIDS epidemic... affects 40 million people today," their statement said.
It described a vaccine as "an absolute necessity... (and) integral part of a broad strategy of global prevention."
The ministers called for "strengthening collaboration in efforts developed by research capacity" and for "working together to attain a critical mass" to push prototype vaccines through the long process of clinical trials.
Research teams should "pool their results in order to maximum progress", they said.
But they made no promise of any additional funds, which AIDS campaigners say must double if a vaccine ever emerges.
European Commission representative Octavi Quintana Trias said the EU executive was "ready to make an effort" on extra cash, but stressed that EU members had to make contributions too.
The meeting was hosted by French Health Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy with the aim of forging a single European view ahead of a Group of Eight (G8) meeting in Washington on Thursday.
That meeting that will focus on the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, which aims to beef up collaboration and cooperation in scientific research.
More than 20 million people have died of AIDS and some 38 million more have HIV, the virus which causes it.
Some 4.8 million new infections occurred in 2003, the highest in a single year.
Annual spending on vaccine research is running at around 650 million dollars, which is less than one percent of total spending on all health product development in the fight against AIDS, according to the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI).
IAVI, a not-for-profit organisation based in New York, says 1.2 billion dollars are needed annually to diversify the number of vaccines that are in early-stage development and fund the promising candidates through the long and costly three-phase trial to assess them for safety and effectiveness.
In the 23-year history of AIDS, only one vaccine has ever gone through the entire three-phase process, and it proved a disappointing flop.
More than 30 candidate vaccines are in trials today but many are basically the same design, and a wider approach is urgently needed in case the design is a failure, says IAVI.
041019
AF041063
©AFP 2004.. All Rights Reserved. AFP articles contained on the AEGiS web site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without AFP's prior written permission. You may make one copy of each article for your personal, non-commercial use only; more copies would require AFP's prior written permission. http://www.afp.com/
AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Bridgestone Firestone Trust Fund, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2004. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
©1990, 2004 - AEGiS. AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content.
