Manto: Assess HIV/Aids tool
15/05/2008 17:29  - (SA)  

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Johannesburg - The various ways of fighting HIV/Aids should be assessed to establish effectiveness of new methods without putting lives at risk, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Thursday.

"There is a need for us to ... look at the total picture whether we are making any progress in finding new tools to respond to HIV infections without putting more lives at risk," she said.

The minister was speaking at a colloquium on HIV/Aids vaccines and microbicide research in Boksburg.

"Is it not perhaps time to pause and redirect the energy and resources to finding some important basics in our scientific query?"

Tshabalala-Msimang also said the government had a responsibility to protect the "vulnerable members" of society used in the trials.

"The democratically elected government has a responsibility to ensure that planned research is necessary; that it is conducted in an ethical manner."

National Institute of Communicable Diseases professor Lynn Morris said scientists did not know everything about the basic science behind building a successful HIV/Aids vaccine.

"That's why we need to keep going. We need to try harder because giving up is definitely not an option," she said.

Morris said it took decades to make vaccines and often there was pressure to stop trials when research appeared to reach unsuccessful outcomes.

When it came to HIV/Aids vaccine trials, at the moment "scientific challenges" are the most significant limiting factor in HIV vaccine developments.

"Its a tough nut to crack," Morris said.

Morris added that consideration for participants was key.

"These (the clinical trials) are run under high scrutiny and monitored at every level, and safety is undeniably the first priority."

Wits University Reproductive Health and Aids Unit Professor Helen Rees said there was a need to evaluate, to work on a scientifically grounded basis to ensure redundant trials were not done, and people put at risk.

"As scientists, we don't want to harm anyone either, but make sure they are safe," said microbicide researcher Gita Ramjee.

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