Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - March 22, 2003
The international conference is on the social, ethical, legal, educational, bio-medical and bio-technological implications of the Human Genome Project, which ended on Saturday at Spier, near Stellenbosch in the Western Cape.
"University of Cape Town (UCT) scientists working on a vaccine for the HIV strain dominant in southern Africa should be ready to begin the first phase of trials next year," Carolyn Williamson from the university's Institute for Molecular Medicine said.
She said a vaccine that protected people against the virus was a "long-term goal" that should not interfere with current programmes to prevent and treat the disease.
"We are dealing with a virus that is able to mutate and recombine all the time... and we are no closer to discovering a cure than we were when HIV was first discovered," she said.
Williamson said a recent phase three vaccine trial by United States pharmaceutical giant had been ineffective.
David Bourne of UCT's School of Public Health said in his presentation at the conference that the South African government had to reconsider its position on antiretroviral drugs or else the disease would run rampant in the coming years.
"By 2010 the life expectancy of a South African will drop from 63 to 40... and five to seven million people will be dying from Aids every year," he said.
"This is the most severe epidemic ever to effect mankind."
He also said that 92 percent of the world's Aids orphans would be in sub-Saharan Africa.
"By far the most cost-effective way to deal with the impact on Aids orphans would be to keep their parents alive longer," he said.
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