Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
San Francisco Chronicle - The Voice of the West, 901 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94119 - Tuesday, May 20, 1997 -Page A22
In a commencement address at Morgan State University in Baltimore on Sunday, Clinton likened the quest for an AIDS vaccine to President Kennedy's stirring, 1961 challenge to put an American on the moon by the end of the decade.
"With the strides of recent years, it is no longer a question of whether we can develop an AIDS vaccine," Clinton said, "it is simply a question of when."
Such rosy optimism is not yet warranted at a time when researchers are barely scratching the surface of the diabolical HIV -- the mutating virus that causes AIDS -- which has defied medical science and spread like wildfire since it was recognized in the early 1980s. Some respected researchers say a vaccine may never be discovered.
Clinton offered no additional money for AIDS research, yet merely by championing the cause he reminded the public of the desperate need for a vaccine, perhaps the only way to fight the disease on a global scale. And by challenging scientists and pharmaceutical companies, the president is asserting that such a vaccine is possible.
"What he has done is a major cheerleading effort, which is important," said Geert Kersten, Chief Executive Officer of Cel-Sci Corp. which is testing a vaccine. "It clearly helps because it changes perception" and could lead to greater investor confidence in vaccine research.
An estimated 29 million people around the globe are living with HIV, and 3 million are newly infected every year. In the United States about one million people carry the virus, with 40,000 new cases a year. While Clinton's call for a vaccine fell short of his 1992 campaign promise to make AIDS research into a Manhattan Project, it was a forceful advancement of his administration's strategy to fight AIDS.
That strategy is to develop both a cure and a vaccine; reduce new infections; guarantee access to quality care for AIDS patients; fight AIDS-related discrimination; translate scientific advances into treatment and provide U.S. leadership in international efforts against the disease.
We are moving in the right direction. There is reason for hope.
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