Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia - Saturday December 1, 2001
The project is a joint venture between the Botswana government, the pharmaceutical companies Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Merck & Co. Inc., the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Harvard AIDS Institute.
"This partnership has brought a new meaning to the word," Mogae said in a December 1 AIDS Day message to the nation.
"We have woven knowledge with commitment, making it possible to overcome the seemingly impossible. With continuing dedication and collaboration we can break the deadly grip of HIV-AIDS."
On Friday, Mogae said that Botswana would also introduce free antiretroviral treatment to 19,000 HIV positive citizens in four centers in the first three months of next year.
This was intended to be the first phase of a program to cover the entire population, he said.
Botswana has one of the highest incidences of HIV infections in the world. Of its 1.7 million people, 36 percent of those between 15 and 49 years and two people out of every five in Gaborone are HIV positive.
Chairman of the partnership and chairman of the Harvard AIDS Institute, Max Essex, said phase one of vaccine trials would start in the first quarter of 2002.
"A nine month phase with 30 to 60 people will test the safety of the vaccine," Essex told Reuters.
"Phase two, with 200 to 400 people, will take two years and test the response of the subject's immune system. Phase three over a further two years will test the efficacy of the vaccine on 1,000 to 5,000 people."
The vaccine to be tested had been prepared to combat the HIV virus subtype C1 which was most prevalent in Botswana, he said, adding the particularly virulent strain had the potential to unleash the worst HIV epidemic yet.
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