Botswana is scheduled to begin tests on an Aids vaccine to find out if it is safe when given to healthy adults, officials said on Monday.
The experimental vaccine, which has already been tested successfully on mice and rabbits, will be tested to determine the immune responses of healthy adults when the drug is given at different doses, said the Botswana Harvard Aids Partnership for HIV Research and Education.
The vaccine, EP HIV-1090, activates certain cells in the immune system to destroy HIV-infected cells.
The trials form the first phase of the process ”to see if the vaccine is safe and well tolerated in humans”, said Dr Tony Villafana, the research site director.
The study, which is scheduled to last 18 months, will involve 42 HIV-negative volunteers from Botswana and the United States. The test will only use subjects with high levels of a certain protein because it is found to be most responsive to the treatment.
The drug is made by a company based in San Diego, California.
Scientists around the world have been searching for an effective vaccine against Aids for more than 20 years. More than 30 experimental vaccines have been tested with little success.
In 1999, Uganda became the first country in Africa to begin testing an Aids vaccine.
Botswana is the first country on the continent to commit to a widespread programme of providing Aids medicine through its public health system.
The diamond-rich nation has one of the highest HIV rates in the world, and has set itself the target of ending new infections by 2016.
About 19% of the country’s 1,7-million people are infected with HIV. An estimated 38% of its adults are infected.
The Botswana Centre of Human Rights has expressed concern over the fact that clinical trials involving humans are not regulated by legislation. ‒ Sapa-AP