The first phase of clinical trial of a vaccine being developed at the National AIDS Research Institute at Pune for the prevention of AIDS will be conducted in the country in 2004. The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) has been working on the project, in association with the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) and Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR).

Speaking at a meeting organised by the AP State AIDS Control Society (APSACS), in association with IAVI, on the " Need for an AIDS vaccine - an informal consultation," Anjali Nayyar, Country Director, IAVI-India, said the mission of the organisation was to develop a safe, effective, accessible and preventive AIDS vaccine for use throughout the world. It was proposed to evolve state-specific plans for conducting the trials. Priority would be given to the top six states where the prevalence of HIV cases is high.

The first phase of trials will be conducted on volunteers who are HIV negative and belong to the low risk group. Andhra Pradesh currently stands second in the country with 4 lakh HIV cases.

Speaking as chief guest, Health Minister Dr Kodela Sivaprasad Rao said that every six seconds one case of HIV was being diagnosed in the world and he stressed the need for developing a vaccine for AIDS and cheaper drugs for treatment despite the challenges.

Dr Rao said developing a vaccine was indeed a difficult task, given the fact that the virus was a fast mutating type unlike the ones causing polio, smallpox and measles. After developing the vaccine, which might happen in the next two or three years, questions would be raised over human trials. Already representations over trials of other drugs had been sent to the National Human Rights Commission. Going by the trend, animal trials might also face opposition. Notwithstanding such problems, developing a vaccine should be the ultimate goal, and it should be done taking legal, human and financial aspects into consideration.

The Minister said the state government was committed to checking the spread of HIV and prepared to spend as much as it was required. He assured the government's support for identifying a vaccine. The meeting was part of the countrywide consultations on ways of creating a conducive situation for trials and introduction of the vaccine. This was necessary in the light of the proposed phase-I trials in 2004, of the research now under way at the National AIDS Research Institute at Pune, according to Subhadra Menon, Coordinator of the meeting.