GYCA - East Africa - Groupes virtuels - Communauté

Message

De:	ojok eric [ Profil ]
Sujet:	Let's Not Celebrate Aids Vaccine Discovery
Envoyé:	Sep 29th, 2009 - 04:10:41

	Hey GYCAers, The HIV Vaccines seems to be out but to the Ugandans, this is different. Lets look at what the Ugandans are saying according to the news Paper, The Daily Monitor: News that scientists working out of Thailand have successfully developed an experimental HIV/Aids vaccine, which reduces possibility of infections by about 30 per cent is fairly soothing but could be misleading too. The development is comforting because for the last three decades HIV, the virus that causes Aids has killed millions worldwide. Our very humanity demands that we must empathise with the millions whose lives have been directly or indirectly devastated by this frightful virus. The new vaccine is a combination of Sanofi-Pastueur's ALVAC canary pox vaccine and the failed HIV vaccine, AIDSVAX. The AIDSVAX vaccine enables the body's immune system to make 'neutralising antibodies' so HIV cannot infect cells, while the ALVAC vaccine enables the body to make 'cellular immune defences' to target cells invaded by HIV before the infection spreads out of control. However, the findings have shown that some people who got the vaccine became infected anyway, had just as much virus in their blood and just as much damage done to their immune systems as HIV patients who went unvaccinated. This implied that the vaccine helped prevent infection but did nothing to the virus once it found its way inside the human body. The discovery comes at a time when Uganda's Health Ministry has raised the red flag over the worrying rising HIV infection rates especially among married couples. This unfortunate situation has partly been blamed on the availability of Anti-retroviral (ARVs) drugs that have proved effective in prolonging the lives of Aids patients. The drugs have made people complacent and partly driven the current high levels of promiscuous and risky sexual behaviour. The researchers in Thailand have rightly warned that the trial vaccine may not work in people and places where HIV is most common like Africa. This implies that Ugandans should keep their guard up because the vaccine is not only likely to be ineffective here, but it might take ages before becoming commercially viable and accessible on the shelves of our drug shops. Especially so given the fact that it took African countries years to access ARVs from drug factories in the West. The biggest challenge in the fight against the virus is stilll lack of awareness about the scourge. Those involved in the fight should ensure that right and timely preventive messages reach all people. -- Ojok Eric National Focal Point-Uganda Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS Plot 12, Coronation Rd, P. O. Box 655 Gulu, Uganda \| Tel: +256 775 199667 ojokeric (at) gmail.com www.iAIDS.org \| www.youthaidscoalition.org

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