United Press International - Sunday, 9 July 2000
Michael Smith, UPI Science News

But Gates, speaking in a video presentation to reporters at the 13th International AIDS Conference, said an eventual AIDS vaccine must be accessible to all, not restricted by cost to people in the developed world.

"If we do not take action now," he said, "the quest for an AIDS vaccine could eventually yield a scientific triumph but a humanitarian failure."

He was endorsing a new plan, prepared by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), to make sure vaccines are available to all when they are developed. Gates, through a personal foundation named after him and his wife Melinda, has donated more than $26 million to IAVI.

Under the plan, IAVI president Seth Berkley said, vaccine developers would set lower prices for their drugs in poor countries than in richer nations. Meanwhile, national governments and international organizations would develop mechanisms to make sure vaccines were available where they were most needed.

He said the time make such agreements is now, before a vaccine is developed. Several of the large drug companies, he said, already said they are interested in supporting the tiered pricing plan.

In the past, Berkley said, vaccine makers have recouped their investment by selling primarily in the developed world, and people elsewhere only got drugs after years of they were discovered. Even today, some effective vaccines -- such as one against measles -- are not widely used in the third world.

But that pattern is "unacceptable" for an AIDS vaccine, he said, because there are more than 5 million new infections every year, most of them in the third world.

"The once-empty vaccine pipeline is beginning to move," Berkley said. "If we are to reverse the world's historic failure to get important vaccines to all who need them, we must begin work immediately."

A five-year delay could cost an extra 20 or 30 million lives, he said.

Maj. Rubaramira Ruranga, an officer in the Ugandan army who is HIV-positive, said a vaccine is "the only solution for sub-Saharan Africa" because even the effective treatments now available are too costly and difficult. And, he said the real victims are not adults, but children.

"If someone were to ask me who should die, my children or I, I would choose to die," he said. "In Africa, it is the children who are dying now."
000709
UP000701

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2000. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 2000. AEGiS. 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. .