South African HIV advocates say there is an urgent need for the government to make PrEP available to everyone who needs it
This comes after the announcement made earlier this week by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) about the non-efficacy of the HIV-prevention vaccine in the HVTN 702 clinical trial.
Speaking to Health-e News, Professor Glenda Gray of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), says that, although she is bitterly disappointed at the trial’s outcome, this is not the time to give up.
“I understand the virus is a formidable pathogen, and that we don’t fully understand how to induce the immune system to protect against exposure. If we want to control HIV, we have to move forward and continue the quest to find a vaccine.”
According to Gray there are vaccine efficacy studies underway which employ different strategies and methods to evaluate the vaccine approach. “Some of these trials are fully enrolled and others are about to start,” she says.
She adds that, until researchers know whether vaccines work or not, the country should use proven methods of prevention such as condoms, medical male circumcision and the pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) pill.