The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and Key Thought

Leaders Explore Critical Next Steps for AIDS Vaccine Research at the 17th

International AIDS Conference in Mexico City



    NEW YORK, July 28 /EMWNews/ -- The following was released

today by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative:



    WHAT:



    Today, AIDS vaccine research is at a pivotal moment. Just ten months

ago, the second AIDS vaccine candidate to reach late-stage testing failed.

In the wake of this disappointment, some skeptics have argued that an AIDS

vaccine may not be possible and that resources dedicated to its development

should be directed instead towards treating HIV-infected individuals. Now

is the time to take a hard look at the toughest questions currently facing

AIDS vaccine researchers. How should the finite resources for AIDS vaccine

research be prioritized? How can the toughest scientific questions facing

AIDS vaccine researchers be tackled? What criteria should be used to decide

which vaccine candidates merit further testing, and which should be

dropped? How do you continue to sustain much-needed support for a

preventive vaccine that may take decades to develop?



    In its biennial AIDS Vaccine Blueprint: A Challenge to the Field, a

Roadmap for Progress, IAVI will put forth a series of concrete

recommendations and milestones that will guide research to answer the

critical scientific questions that have hampered AIDS vaccine development

to date.



    WHY:



    The AIDS pandemic is one of the greatest global health crises of our

time. In the 25 years since HIV was first identified as the cause of AIDS,

an estimated 25 million people have died of the disease and 33 million more

are currently living with HIV. Almost 7,000 people become newly infected

with HIV everyday, and for every two people who start antiretroviral

therapy, another five become newly infected with HIV. While a preventive

vaccine is the best long-term solution to the pandemic, much still remains

to be done to discover and make a vaccine accessible globally.



    WHO:



    Seth Berkley, MD, CEO and President, International AIDS Vaccine

Initiative (IAVI)



    Peter Piot, MD, Executive Director, UNAIDS and Under Secretary-General,

United Nations



    Alan Bernstein, MD, Executive Director, Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise



    Omu Anzala, MD, Associate Professor, University of Nairobi School of

Medicine



    WHERE:



    Media Centre, Room 2



    WHEN:



    Tuesday, August 5 (9:00AM to 9:45AM)



    CONTACT: Hester Kuipers



    [email protected]



    +31 20 5210343 / +31 64898130



    Rachel Steinhardt



    [email protected]



    212-847-1045