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Vaccines could put an end to the HIV epidemic

26/Sep/2006: Analysts from the Futures Group and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, have reported that effective administration of AIDS vaccine to 70% of the population (in countries where this disease is at epidemic proportions) by 2030 could eventually put an end to the HIV epidemic.

This report was submitted at the AIDS Vaccine ’06 conference in Amsterdam and it says that vaccination of high-risk groups could prevent one-third of HIV infections expected to occur in the period 2015 to 2030.

The study carried out by the Futures Group and International AIDS Initiative, found that vaccination of high-risk individuals in concentrated epidemics like the one in Brazil, and vaccination of the entire population in generalized epidemics like the one in South Africa, will have a similar impact as a vaccination program that targets the entire population of the world.

But at the same time it will require less than 50 million vaccinations a year in the period 2015 to 2030, when compared to 250 million vaccinations a year in the corresponding period, if a broader approach to the immunization drive is to be employed.

However, administering AIDS vaccine to 70% of the population in countries suffering from HIV epidemic would require huge logistical and financial support. Moreover, this task may not be a realistic prospect, until strong network of services for prevention and treatment of HIV are developed, before the vaccine is ready for introduction.

A new model being developed by the Futures Group and International AIDS initiative, which assumes that vaccines for AIDS would be available by the year 2015, shows that 27 million new HIV infections could be prevented by administering AIDS vaccines to the targeted populations between 2015 and 2030. According to this model, a generalized vaccination program could prevent one infection for every 15-30 people vaccinated, but a targeted vaccination program could prevent one infection for every 3-10 people vaccinated.

K Siva

Further Reading
http://www.vaccine-info.com/

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