AIDS Vaccine: Giving Up Hope
Horrible survey from England's Independent:
A shocking new survey has uncovered that the international community of Aids scientists are giving up hope of finding a vaccine for the virus. The growing pessimism of scientists comes after the disastrous failure of a trial vaccine. The trial drug, manufactured by pharmaceutical company Merck, has been found not to work and in some cases it has increased the likelihood of being infected with HIV.Deeply depressing.
After initially promising results when tested on primates the drug reacted very differently when tested humans who were at a high risk of infection.The misleading results that were derived from animal testing will be welcomed by animal rights groups.
The survey, carried out by The Independent, surveyed 35 leading Aids scientists from the Britain and the United States. Two thirds believed that an HIV vaccine will not be developed within the next 10 years and some of them said that it may take at least 20 more years of research before a vaccine can be used to protect people either from infection or the onset of Aids.
This latest report yet again sparks debate over how funds should be allocated. Many have argued that the vast sums of money spent on drugs trials should be channelled into infection prevention.
Winnie Seruma told the Independent: "When I was diagnosed, nearly 20 years ago, it was when the first drugs had come on the market. A lot of people had said before then that there was no hope and that all efforts should be put into prevention. But look where we are now. We cannot lose hope; we need to invest in a vaccine."
