Chicago Tribune (CT) - TUESDAY, October 28, 1997 Edition: NORTH SPORTS FINAL Section: NEWS Page: 8 Word Count: 473
Uli Schmetzer, Tribune Staff Writer.

But even if the tests are successful, it could be another 10 years before a vaccine to immunize people against the virus is commercially available, Dr. Margaret Johnston told the 4th International Congress on AIDS.

Johnston, scientific director of the U.S.-based International Aids Vaccine Initiative, said that "thousands" of high-risk Thais were expected to participate in the test as volunteers and would be divided into two groups for a study on the vaccine's effectiveness.

One group will be given the vaccine, the other group will be given a placebo.

"You follow them over a period of years and see if the group that got the vaccine had less infections than the group that didn't get the vaccine. That way you know if the vaccine works," she said.

Johnston said she did not know whether the groups would be told beforehand who would receive and who would not receive the test vaccine.

The issue of whether to inform volunteers became contentious after AIDS trials on pregnant women in Africa, during which some of the women received placebos instead of drugs. The purpose of those tests was to find out whether a certain drug treatment would stop pregnant women from passing the virus to their babies.

Critics of the trials argued that the tests stopped the women from receiving therapy that could have saved their lives. The trials also were unethical, the critics said, because the women were not told whether they were being given the drug or a placebo.

The Roman Catholic Church has lashed out at the congress for "promoting sexual permissiveness" by urging the use of condoms.

Peeved by what he described as an international attack on the faith of Filipinos, Cardinal Jaime Sin rejected an invitation to attend last Sunday's opening of the congress, which has drawn 2,500 delegates from 65 nations to exchange views and debate ways to battle AIDS.

Two years ago, the cardinal orchestrated a protest that brought an abrupt halt to a government family planning campaign.

Asia's huge and ever-growing population faces "a tragedy of historic proportions," UN AIDS specialist Dr. Peter Piot warned. He said that unless the spread of AIDS is contained, Asia will overtake Africa within a few years as the region of the world hit hardest by the epidemic.

Piot, who heads the Joint UN Program UNAIDS Against AIDS and HIV, took a conciliatory tone with the church.

"You can't expect the cardinals to promote the condom, but I expect them not to be an obstacle," he said. "When it's a matter of survival or death, I cannot imagine any religion (that) would like to lose all its followers because of this epidemic."

Copyright 1997/The Chicago Tribune. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Permissions Desk, The Chicago Tribune, 435 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611.
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