Thailand attacks AIDS with two-pronged approach
Berman, J.
Lancet 353(9164): 1600
1999
ISSN/ISBN: 0140-6736 PMID: 10334271 DOI: 10.1016/s0140-6736(05)75737-8Document Number: 282068
Up to 1 million of Thailand's 60 million inhabitants are thought to be infected with HIV-1. However, research suggests that the rate of new HIV infection has slowed in recent years. This decline in HIV incidence is most likely real, with at risk populations in the country adopting and adhering to risk reduction behavioral changes in the context of numerous condoms advertisements and safer sex promotion. Contributing considerably to checking the spread of HIV/AIDS, prostitutes in Thailand are using condoms on a more regular basis. An effective vaccine against HIV-1, however, is still needed. The world's first phase III trials of an AIDS vaccine in a developing country are now underway in Thailand. In February, the Thai government granted international researchers permission to conduct large-scale trials in their country. The 4-year trial will involve giving the AIDSVAX vaccine to 2500 HIV-seronegative IV drug users in 17 methadone clinics in Bangkok. AIDSVAX is the first of 30 candidate vaccines to undergo efficacy trials, in which the prevention of HIV-1 infection will be tested. The vaccine is also undergoing phase III trials involving 5000 HIV-1-seronegative volunteers in the US.