Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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United Press International -- December 1, 2006
Jacob Russell - UPI Correspondent
The day strives to raise awareness of the global AIDS pandemic, sparked by the spread of HIV infection. It has been 25 years since the first cases of HIV infection were detected, and AIDS is now one of the most destructive epidemics in all history, claiming more than 25 million lives.
Dr. Jorge Flores, deputy director of the Vaccine Research Program at the National Institute of Allergy and Infections Diseases, talked with United Press International about the triumphs and challenges in the fight against AIDS and what this year's theme of accountability really means.
Q. Could you tell me a little about what you do?
A. We are in charge of a large program to design, develop and test the programs worldwide. A large proportion of developing the vaccine lies on our group. I would say our program is working on perhaps half of what is currently being done in vaccine development. We also support a range of activities that include development, vaccine manufacture and clinical trials for today's vaccines. We are able, through grants and contract mechanisms, to support manufacturing of the vaccine, testing it in mice and monkeys, and, eventually, when we know a product is promising and safe, take it into clinical trials.
Q. What are you doing with the vaccines today?
A. The clinical trials of our vaccines have identified promising results, so we are moving into efficacy of testing. Right now we have 15 active vaccines throughout the world where tests are done in people. We are working in the Caribbean Islands, South America, Africa -- particularly South Africa -- and Thailand.
Q. Are there any other triumphs?
A. The best news for today that we can provide is that we are finally moving some of these products into efficacy trials so we can find out if some of them are indeed effective. We are also finally moving into large trials, particularly in Thailand, the United States, the Caribbean Islands and South America.
Q. What are some of the challenges you face?
A. Unfortunately, no matter how good these things are, and no matter how many public-health measures are put in place, there are still a lot of people affected by HIV.
One of the greatest challenges in the field is discovering new ways to induce antibodies that would be able to neutralize HIV virus because of its ability to disguise itself and escape.
There has been a tremendous amount of effort put into finding ways to fight it.
Q. What else do you hope to one day pursue?
A. There are two goals we have that we hope we'll be able to learn in the next three years. We hope to find a way to offer protection against the infection, and we want to prevent people who become infected from having it turn into AIDS.
Q. How does World AIDS Day help you?
A. With World AIDS Day we want to provide awareness. We want to be successful with clinical trials, so we need to continue bringing in volunteers. These volunteers must be as diverse as possible in terms of ethnic backgrounds, and the type of risk they (experience). This should (also) include minorities and women. It is very critical that everyone participate in clinical trials for the vaccine.
Q. Could you tell me a little about this year's theme, particularly what that means in terms of the HIV virus?
A. Accountability deals with the issue of partnership. The U.S. government largely supports us, but this is a worldwide effort. There is not a single entity that is ever going to be able to make a difference. We must work at this through global partnerships. We are very much part of the global vaccine enterprise.
We have a consortium of multiple partners, stakeholders and communities to coordinate all these efforts so that when we learn something it's quickly disseminated. Instead of competing, it's more of a combined effort to get where we need to get.
We need to continue working as partners throughout the world to strengthen our own institutions and efforts and get there as soon as possible.
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