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AFAO launches innovative radio education campaign on HIV awareness in the Torres StraitThe peak body for Australia’s HIV response has moved to address recent concerns about “silent transmission” of HIV from Papua New Guinea to the Australian mainland via the Torres Strait, by launching a major new public education campaign on Torres Strait radio. The language appropriate resource, in Torres Strait Creole, seeks to educate the Torres Strait community about HIV and address perceptions held by some in that community that HIV is exclusively a “gay illness.” AFAO Executive Director Don Baxter said that the resource would run on Radio 4MW – Radio Torres Strait on high rotation for an initial period of three months, before being evaluated and possibly extended. “Radio is the main communication medium in the Torres Strait and our extensive consultations in those communities have clearly identified that information broadcast in Torres Creole would best suit the needs of Torres Strait Islanders.” “Subsequently, the AFAO National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Project collaborated with the Queensland Association for Healthy Communities (QAHC) to develop this Torres Strait Islander-specific HIV education resource.” The radio snippets titled Eh Youpla, were completed in June 2008 by recording six snippets in total (3 male and 3 female), each message is approximately 45 seconds. The snippets will be played at peak audience times on Torres Strait Islander radio. Sample snippet (one of six): “Eh youpla !!! - you can get HIV from having sex with out a condom. If youpla want to find out more information about HIV
(This message has been produced by AFAO in association with the QAHC)” For media comment by AFAO please call Don Baxter, Executive Director of AFAO on 0419 223 560 or Graham Brown (AFAO President) on0410 577 282. Other media enquiries and for copies of the Eh Youpla audio files: Phil Davey (AFAO Media officer) 0414 867 188
Sunday 3 August 2008- for immediate release HIV epidemics now ravaging gay-MSM populations in the Global South – Australia must help urgently says national AIDS body. HIV epidemics among gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM) are raging unchecked a major global conference was told today in Mexico City. The meeting, organised by the Global Forum on MSM & HIV and titled: ‘The Invisible men – Gay men and other men who sex with men in the Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic’, was attended by 500 delegates from 82 countries in Mexico City. Dr Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS warned the meeting “We are seeing rates of HIV infection among gay men in global south countries not seen since the ‘invisible’ epidemics in early 1980s in Australia, North America and Western Europe.” In a global analysis the World Bank’s leading epidemiologist, Dr David Wilson, told the meeting “the rates of new HIV infections among MSM are alarming in every region in the global south”. Wilson said that evidence now available in all regions showed that sex between men in the global south is far more widespread than generally acknowledged and described the systematic under-spending on MSM programs as the missing pillar in the global AIDS response. Dr Piot said his 12 years as Executive Director of UNAIDS had taught him the blame for this situation lay primarily in the homophobia among political leaders in the developing countries, noting that some refused to even allow the evidence to be collected – let alone fund effective e prevention programs for MSM. “We, the UN–system need to move to comprehensive, ‘business-like’ programs to combat homophobia directly throughout the Global South,” Dr Piot told the meeting Don Baxter, Executive Director of the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO) and a Co-Chair of the Global Forum on MSM & HIV, called on Australia to dramatically upgrade its response to these shocking statistics. “Australia’s contribution to HIV funding and expertise in the Asia Pacific region over the last decade has been considerable but only a miniscule proportion of this has been allocated to gay/MSM programs”, Baxter said, “Yet this meeting heard evidence of rapidly advancing epidemics in major Asian cities, such that sex between men in Asia is projected to contribute more than 50% of new HIV infections in the region by 2020,” he said. “While financial support through AusAID for this meeting was much appreciated by the participants and organisers it should be only the start of concerted, long-term and comprehensive investment in prevention and support if catastrophes among gay and MSM communities in the Asia Pacific region are to be averted”, he said. [Note: the XVII International AIDS Conference commences in Mexico City on Sunday, 3 August at 7.30pm (Mexico time)] For media comment please call Don Baxter, Executive Director of AFAO in Mexico City, on 0419 223 560. Don is available until 3PM Sunday August 3 (Sydney time) and again from 1AM Monday August 4 (Sydney time). Other media enquiries: Phil Davey (AFAO Media officer) 0414 867 188
Monday 14 July 2008 – for immediate release
National symposium on Microbicides and HIV Biomedical Prevention A symposium on HIV biomedical prevention is taking place today and tomorrow in Sydney, jointly conducted by the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO) and the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research (NCHECR).
The meeting of researchers, advocates and health care workers will discuss whether Australia can make a greater contribution to the global search for an effective biomedical agent to supplement and strengthen current prevention strategies for HIV.
AFAO Executive Director Don Baxter said today that the symposium was looking at the current scientific progress and the possibilities of potential breakthroughs in additional prevention strategies from biomedical agents.
“An effective biomedical prevention strategy would provide people with additional measures to condoms and clean injecting equipment to prevent HIV infection”, he said.
“It would be particularly useful in many developing countries where current cultural restraints disempower women and men who have sex with other men”, Baxter said, often making negotiation of safe sex all but impossible.
“One option is a microbicide, a topical preparation for use in the vagina or the rectum, where it would kill the HIV virus. Another option under investigation is “pre-exposure prophylaxis”, or PrEP, - the possibility of taking tablets routinely to prevent HIV infections - which is currently being investigated in several large scale trials,” he said.
“It may be some decades before there are biomedical prevention agents are available which can stop HIV in its tracks the way a condom can, but it is essential that communities at risk of HIV take a long-term strategic view and commence discussions about the potential role of biomedical prevention in assisting prevent infections”, Baxter said.
He said this week’s discussions would include some complex ethical questions of how to trial these agents and ways to ensure their eventual roll-out did not have counter-productive effects in established safe sex cultures”, he said.
For media comment please call: Don Baxter (AFAO Executive Director) on 0419 223 560 Bridget Haire (AFAO Biomedical Policy analyst) on 0418 431 672
Thursday, 7 February 2008 AFAO welcomes HIV assistance to IndonesiaThe Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO) today welcomed the announcement by Foreign Minister Stephen Smith of renewed Australian aid to Indonesia to combat HIV/AIDS, its Executive Director, Don Baxter, said today. Foreign Minister Stephen Smith announced the $40 million HIV package over three years at his meeting with the Indonesian Foreign Minister, Mr Hassan Wirajuda, in Perth today. “Indonesia is still in a position to avoid a major HIV epidemic if it focuses attention on the populations where the HIV infections are currently occurring and we are very pleased to see Mr Smith’s emphasis on assisting those vulnerable populations”, Baxter said. Baxter said that in most parts of Indonesia HIV infections were occurring chiefly among people who inject drugs, among male and female sex workers and their clients and among men who have sex with men – although in Indonesia’s Papua Province HIV is more frequently transmitted through heterosexual intercourse. “There is emerging evidence that sex between men is now contributing up to 30% of new HIV infections in low prevalence Asian cities – including in Indonesia – but most governments in the region, including Indonesia, have committed less than 1% of HIV prevention funding to this population”, he said. “We welcome Minister Smith’s renewal of the HIV program in Indonesia and look forward to seeing its focus adjusted to respond to emerging trends,” Baxter said. Further information: Don Baxter (AFAO Executive Director) 0419-223-560 or 02-8568-1100
February 7, 2008 Confusion over HIV laws causes unnecessary fearThe case of Hector Scott, an ACT sex worker charged in the magistrate’s court today, highlights misleading language in the ACT Prostitution Act (1992). Scott was charged with providing sexual services while unregistered, an offence under section 12 of the Act, and also charged with providing sexual services while having a sexually transmissible infection, an offence under section 25. Scott pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in late March. Media reports over the last week have suggested that he has “knowingly infected” others with HIV. However, no evidence that this occurred was presented. “The discrepancy between the charges and the way they have been reported is not due to bad reporting, but to a misleading subtitle in the legislation,” said Don Baxter, Executive Director of the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO). Section 25 of the Prostitution Act prohibits a person from providing or receiving a commercial sexual service if he or she knows, or ought to know, that he or she has a sexually transmissible infection. No one has to be infected for a charge to be laid. “The ACT government should review and amend this legislation to remove this discrepancy,” Baxter said. “Confusingly, section 25 of the Act is headed ‘knowingly infecting’, a title that suggests actual infection has occurred,” said Baxter. “The difference between working with a sexually transmissible disease and actually infecting someone is most significant”. Baxter however praised other aspects of the ACT legislation, particularly for its emphasis on the mutual responsibility of sex workers, their clients and brothel owners for ensuring that condoms are used. “Requesting a commercial sexual service without a condom is unlawful under the ACT legislation, as is agreeing to provide that service,” Baxter noted. “The onus of responsibility for preventing STI transmission rests upon both the client and the worker, as it should, otherwise demands by some clients will lead to marginalised sex workers being pressured to take risks.” Baxter concluded that promoting condom use always by both clients and sex workers, rather than banning HIV positive people from commercial sex work, is the most effective way to prevent HIV transmission. For further comment: Don Baxter: 0419 223 560; Janelle Fawkes 0411 985 135
5 February 2008 AFAO position on Swiss Consensus StatementIn late January the Swiss Federal HIV/AIDS Commission issued a consensus statement saying that HIV positive individuals on effective antiretroviral therapy and without sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are sexually non-infectious. This statement has caused concern among other HIV/AIDS organistions. AFAO's position on the declaration by the Swiss Federal AIDS Commission is similar to the position of UNAIDS and WHO. While research suggests an undetectable viral load reduces the risk of HIV transmission, an undetectable viral load has not yet been proven to completely eliminate the risk of transmitting the virus. The use of viral load in prevention is not a substitute for safe sex. It's also important to realise that the claims made by the Swiss Federal AIDS Commission were highly conditional; they require six months of undetectable viral load, strict adherence to HIV medication and being free of any Sexually Transmitted Infections. So the reduction in transmission risk isn't something that applies to all people with HIV on treatment. For gay men with more than one sexual partner it would be very difficult to be sure you are always STI-free. For sexually-active gay men in HIV sero-discordant couples - one poz, one neg - using undetectable viral load as a substitute for routine condom use would be a very risky approach. Infection with an STI makes the poz partner more infectious for HIV - and for HIV negative men in relationships with a poz partner, being infected with an STI usually makes you more susceptible to infection with HIV. In fact, this study reminds us of the importance of regular testing for STIs and treating any STI infections detected. It should also be kept in mind that the Swiss position looked predominantly at data on heterosexual transmission; which is another reason to urge gay men to use caution before applying this to their sexual practices as unprotected anal sex is a much more efficient mode of transmission than vaginal sex. People need to be aware that relying on 'undetectable' viral load is not a 'safe sex' strategy, it's one that reduces the risk of transmission and it is far from foolproof. The best way to protect yourself - and your partner - from HIV is through regular and consistent condom use with water-based lube.
AFAO announces new president The Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO) today announces the election of its new president, Dr Graham Brown. Dr Brown is a senior lecturer at the Centre for Health Promotion Research in the School of Public Health at Curtin University in Western Australia, and has had extensive involvement in the community-based HIV/AIDS sector, chiefly as Education Manager in the Western Australian AIDS Council. “Graham brings academic rigor combined with excellent analytical skills and a strong commitment to maintaining and developing the community basis in Australia’s HIV/AIDS response,” said Don Baxter, Executive Director of AFAO. The role of President is to lead AFAO’s board of directors which governs the organisation and, along with the Executive Director, to act as media spokesperson. “I have both a personal and professional passion for the community-led HIV response”, said Dr Brown. “I have had the privilege of working in the community sector, in social research and in public health policy.” Dr Brown’s goals as president are to ensure that AFAO’s voice continues to be firm, clear, and well-modulated in the ear of key decision makers and results in effective policy, research and community responses in Australia and the Asia Pacific region. “I look forward to working with the new federal government and particularly with Health Minister Nicola Roxon – as well as maintaining Australia’s long-standing non-partisan approach to the HIV epidemic,” Dr Brown said. “AFAO must also maintain the capacity to coordinate and support its member organisations and to play a catalyst role where desirable to ensure a powerfully effective response to HIV,” said Dr Brown. Outgoing president Ian Rankin deserved special commendation for his leadership from 2005-2007, the final years of the Howard Government, said Dr Brown. “Ian has left the organisation in very good shape to operate in the revitalised policy environment that we expect under the new federal government,” he said. “This is a time for renewing energies, for refocusing on the unique partnership of community, research and government that achieved so much of Australia’s success. We have an opportunity to ensure a robust and bold community response that Australia has spearheaded since the 1980s.” Further information: Graham Brown: 0410 577 282 Don Baxter (Executive Director) 0419 223 560
29 November 2007 World AIDS Day: Looking forward to new leadership on HIV/AIDS New leadership is needed to restore the Australian HIV response and reverse the rate of HIV infections across the country, the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO) said today. “We look forward to the new federal government and the new Minister re-energising Australia’s HIV response,” said Don Baxter, Executive Director of AFAO. “National leadership faltered under the previous federal government and Commonwealth investment in AIDS programs was allowed to steadily decrease over the last decade – yet HIV infections have been on the rise for the last five years in all states except New South Wales,” said Baxter. HIV infections increased by 41 percent from 2001 to 2006, while funding for Australia’s key HIV research centres dropped by 10-15 percent. “We welcome Labor’s policy document ‘Preventative health care for our families and our future economy’, released by (then) shadow Minister Roxon in June this year, setting the overall framework for the government enacting their specific commitments to HIV/AIDS made in their response to AFAO’s questionnaire to the political parties during the election campaign,” Baxter said. While HIV is no longer a death sentence, each new HIV diagnosis places a significant pressure on the public purse, as the effective but costly antiretroviral drugs need to be taken for a lifetime. “Unfortunately we are no closer to a magic bullet that will prevent HIV - health promotion that supports people to sustain behaviour change is the best tool we have – so prevention remains everybody’s business,” says Baxter. “Keeping health promotion relevant for people at risk of HIV requires leadership, commitment, creativity, good research, and adequate funding. We look forward to federal Labor working with us to restore an effective response,” Baxter said. Further information: Don Baxter (Executive Director) 0419 223 560
23 July 2007 HIV & Immigration - AFAO welcomes Minister Abbott confirming current government policy The Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO) today welcomed Health Minister Abbott’s confirmation that visitors to Australia would not have to undergo HIV tests or be required to declare their HIV status before visiting Australia, said AFAO’s President, Ian Rankin. Minister Abbott confirmed the current policy for visitors in his Opening speech at the 4th International Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention at Sydney’s Darling Harbour Convention Centre last night. “Given recent uncertainty around HIV testing of visitors it was re-assuring to hear Minister Abbott say that no visiting participants to the Conference had been required to be tested and this is the way it would remain”, Mr Rankin said. Mr Rankin noted that all applicants for permanent residency are required to undergo HIV tests and only a small number with HIV were accepted as migrants, nearly all of whom are spouses or partners of Australian citizens. He noted that Minister Abbott fore-shadowed that in future those HIV positive applicants who are successful will have to give “enforceable undertakings about treatment”. Mr Rankin said that while details of these undertakings were not yet clear AFAO supported the enforceable undertakings in principle. “As long as these undertakings are implemented in the spirit set out last night by Minister Abbott – ‘because we want to help people, not judge them; because we want to treat people, not quarantine them’ – AFAO would support them,” Mr Rankin said. “We are very keen for new permanent residents who are HIV-positive to establish a close and regular relationship with an HIV medical practitioner as soon as they can after arrival, ” Mr Rankin said. “Currently, migrants with HIV tend to be diagnosed with HIV disease progression much later than Australian citizens, and by that time they have much more damaged immune systems,” Mr Rankin said. “The fore-shadowed undertakings may well lead to better clinical management and overall health for these people,” Rankin said. Further info: Don Baxter (AFAO Executive Director 0419 223 560) Ian Rankin (AFAO President 0406 375 380)
May 9, 2007 HIV initiative in Asia Pacific regionMinister Downer’s announcement of an additional $585.2 million for health projects in the Asia Pacific region was welcomed by the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO). This allocation, earmarked to be delivered over four years, is in addition to the $600 million for HIV/AIDS programs to be delivered by 2010. It will fund a Delivering Better Health Initiative for Asia Pacific. “This new money will expand the HIV research program and build the capacity of our Asia Pacific neighbours to tackle the HIV epidemic,” said Don Baxter, Executive Director of AFAO. Mr Baxter said that the capacity building program was particularly important because it promotes partnerships between HIV organisations in Australian and our counterparts in the Asia Pacific region. “Australia has a widely respected track record in addressing the HIV epidemic, and has built a strong and vibrant community sector and internationally renowned research and clinical health sectors,” he said. “Investment in capacity building means that we can share our learning with our neighbours in a collaborative fashion, working together to strengthen their capacity to find their own solutions within their cultural and political context.” Increased funding is in line with AusAID’s White Paper which mandated new and expanded programs to address the profound threat that HIV/AIDS poses to regional security, economic and political stability and humanitarian goals, said Mr Baxter. “Our regional neighbours, PNG in particular, face great challenges and this new health initiative is a timely and important contribution,” Mr Baxter said. Further information: Don Baxter (Executive Director) 0419 223 560
May 9, 2007 AFAO welcomes proposed new HIV prevention campaign
The budget allocation of $10 million for a HIV prevention campaign on mainstream media was welcomed today as a step in the right direction by the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO). Funding for the $10 million campaign fore-shadowed by Health Minister Tony Abbott earlier this year was confirmed in the budget for an HIV prevention campaign on national television, primarily targeting the people most at risk of HIV infection: gay and homosexually active men. “This is the first budget allocation for a national television-based HIV prevention campaign in over a decade,” said Don Baxter, Executive Director of AFAO. “It is indeed timely, as HIV infections have risen by 41% nationally in the last five years.” Mr Baxter explained that while condoms were embraced as life-savers twenty five years ago, in the beginning of the epidemic, sustaining safe sex everytime over the long term is challenging. “We need a campaign that speaks directly to people whose behaviour occasionally places them at risk of HIV,” Mr Baxter said. “A sophisticated, well-targeted campaign would speak directly to gay men and engage them in assessing their HIV risk consistently, and protecting themselves accordingly.” Mr Baxter emphasised the need for HIV prevention messages to be present in the mainstream as well as routinely in gay-specific media. “The gay press does a good job with HIV prevention material, but research tells us that some gay men are increasingly less ‘community attached’ meaning they rely on mainstream sources of information rather than the institutions and media of the gay community,” he said. “AFAO looks forward to working with Minister Abbott and his department to ensure the campaign messages are appropriate and effective in helping reverse the rate of HIV infections in Australia”, he said. Further information: Don Baxter (Executive Director) 0419 223 560 Ian Rankin (President) 0406 375 380
Thursday, 13 April 2007. Prime Minister’s proposed ‘blanket ban’ on HIV positive migrants would be both counterproductive and cruel says peak AIDS body Prime Minister Howard needs to brush up on HIV transmission and on his own government’s policy on migration by people with HIV infection said Don Baxter, Executive Director of the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO), Australia’s peak body for the HIV community response. Baxter was responding to Prime Minister Howard’s comments on radio this morning saying migrants or refugees with HIV infection should not be allowed into Australia. “It is already extremely difficult for people with HIV infection to be accepted as migrants or refugees – the great majority are automatically rejected by the Immigration Department procedures”, Baxter said. Baxter said that HIV-positive applicants already had to demonstrate they would not become a burden on the Australian health system or community services. “But those people accepted, chiefly spouses and partners of Australian citizens, can and do contribute enormously to Australia’s benefit. These days effective treatments are allowing near-normal working lives and therefore great contributions to their families and communities - and to the nation’s productivity and tax-base. “It would be cruel, inhumane and counter-productive to break up marriages and partnerships and lose the contribution HIV-positive migrants and residents already make to Australia and can make in the future.” Baxter said. Baxter also said that Mr Howard’s lumping together the public health risks of HIV with TB is simply wrong. “Unlike TB, which is airborne and highly contagious, Australians can easily protect themselves from HIV infection – its called safe sex and not sharing needles”, he said. “Everybody knows this and it is what the government should be reinforcing, not trying to provide some false sense of security that Australians can have unsafe sex with people from other countries because the government has screened all the HIV-positive ones out,” Baxter said. “This is not possible and giving that impression amounts to seriously bad public health policy” he said. Further information: Don Baxter (AFAO Executive Director) 0419-223-560 or 02-8568-1100
February 17, 2007 Sexual health education a hit in gay chat rooms Sexual health educators are effective in internet chat rooms, Australia’s peak community AIDS organisation announced today. The Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO) today released the evaluation of a six-month trial project, Netreach, which involved placing peer-based sexual health educators in chat rooms on Gaydar, a popular gay sexual networking site. The service offered sexual health information and referral. “Generally, the outreachers were well received and kept busy in satisfying interactions with the chatters,” said the evaluation report authored by the Western Australian Centre for Health Promotion Research. Netreach was trialled in five states, with AIDS councils in Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania participating. “The confidential nature of this service meant that men asked questions that they may have been too embarrassed to ask in other settings,” said Ian Rankin, President of AFAO. “In the course of the trial 460 men approached our educators to discuss HIV, sexuality and sexually transmissible infections.” More than half (52%) of the men contacting the project were given referrals to specific services. Sexual health and other medical practitioners were the most common referrals, followed by other AIDS council services. Many men who approached educators were from rural and regional areas. Rankin announced that the service will shortly be upgraded to include instant messaging capacity. It will also expand its geographical reach to include educators from the Northern Territory. Netreach was coordinated by AFAO and was supported by Q Soft Consulting, the owners of the Gaydar.com.au site. “Gaydar has provided free advertising and other support for this service,” said Rankin. “We thank them for their support” View report (PDF 192 KB 38pp) Further information: Ian Rankin 0406 375 38 or www.afao.org.au/netreach
January 30, 2007
AFAO welcomes proposed new HIV prevention campaign
The Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO) welcomes Minister Abbott’s announcement of support for a new $10 million HIV prevention campaign targeting gay men through mainstream media, AFAO Executive Director, Don Baxter, said today.
“A sophisticated, well-targeted campaign in the mainstream media which speaks directly to gay men and engages them in assessing HIV risk consistently will fill a major gap in Australia’s HIV prevention program”, Baxter said.
Mr Baxter explained that while HIV prevention and health promotion in the gay and lesbian print media has been intensive and is critical to sustaining safe sex culture, increasing numbers of gay men live more of their lives in the mainstream, interacting less frequently with gay community institutions and media.
“The changing nature of many gay men’s relation to the gay community and to the mainstream community mean we need to have prevention messages regularly and clearly in both gay media and mainstream media if we are to significantly reduce HIV infections”, Baxter said.
“There has not been a budget allocation for HIV prevention and health promotion on national television for over a decade and we welcome Minister Abbott’s decision to focus this campaign on the population where most HIV infections are occurring – gay men,” said Mr Baxter.
Baxter is confident that AFAO and its member organisations will have significant input to the development of the campaign elements, and that they will be broadcast during programs that have significant gay audiences. Market research commissioned by NSW Health indicates that these include Desperate Housewives, Queer as Folk, Will and Grace, The L Word and any Kylie special.
“While $10m. does not buy a lot of national media time a careful focus on these and similar shows would be an excellent start to an on-going mainstream media campaign – as is done routinely for other major health issues”, Baxter said.
Further information: Don Baxter (Executive Director) 0419 223 560
January 15 2007 HIV vaccine trial recruitment due to close Sydney’s HIV vaccine trial is about to close, with a call for any last minute volunteers to contact researchers by February 15, 2007. Sydney began recruiting study participants in May 2006 for a multicentre vaccine trial that includes sites in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. Three thousand people in total is the recruitment target. “Sydney was the last site to join this multicentre study, and worldwide the trial has nearly reached its recruitment target,” said Dr Tony Kelleher, the principal investigator for the Sydney site. Also known as the Step Study, the vaccine trial tests an experimental HIV vaccine developed by Merck Research Laboratories in people at high risk of HIV acquisition. Preliminary studies have shown that the experimental vaccine produces a strong immune response in a majority of participants, but whether or not this translates into protection from HIV infection or from HIV disease is unknown. “This study is pivotal in terms of HIV vaccine research because it will give an indication of whether inducing T-cell immunity is useful for protecting against either HIV infection or disease,” said Dr Kelleher. Virtually all the HIV vaccines in later stages of development are focused on this type of immunity, he explained. “We don’t yet know for sure whether T-cell immunity really offers any protection. This study will help to answer that critical question. If there is no protection, this could change the whole direction of vaccine research,” said Dr Kelleher. While the study does not include enough people to conclusively prove or disprove efficacy of the product, its result will give an indication of whether it is worthwhile proceeding to a full efficacy trial that may involve 20,000 or more volunteers. The Sydney arm of the trial is taking place at St Vincent’s Hospital in partnership with the National Centre of HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research. The Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO) participated in the strategic planning and design of the trial, and the AIDS Council of New South Wales (ACON) produced a complementary information campaign designed to ensure that potential participants and communities of people at risk of HIV understood that an experimental vaccine trial does not mean that a solution to HIV is just around the corner. “Clinical research into new ways of preventing HIV is very important,” said Mark Bebbington, Acting Executive Director of AFAO. “People who volunteer for vaccine research are making an enormous contribution to increasing our understanding of this virus. But we don’t want optimism about biomedical developments to distract people from using proven protection against HIV infection – condoms and lubricant.” For information contact:Dr Tony Kelleher, St Vincent’s Hospital: 0410 641 796 Mark Bebbington, AFAO: 0439 481 495 Top | ||||||||||||||
December 12, 2007