Ethiopian President Calls for Increased Focus, Support of HIV Vaccine Development
Ethiopian President Girma Woldegiorgis on Monday at the opening of the three-day Second African AIDS Vaccine Program Workshop called for an "intensified worldwide commitment" to the creation of a viable HIV vaccine, Xinhua News Agency reports. Woldegiorgis, speaking at a workshop, titled "Strategies for the Development of HIV Vaccine Trial Sites in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities," said that antiretroviral drugs are "life-prolonging" but also "expensive and toxic." He added that a vaccine could be "instrumental" in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa, according to Xinhua. World Health Organization Representative to Ethiopia Angela Benson said that an effective vaccine would be a "major breakthrough to curb the spread of the epidemic," adding that WHO will "support and stand for increased collaboration" between researchers in Africa and elsewhere to make a safe and effective HIV vaccine available to people in Africa, according to Xinhua (Xinhua News Agency, 6/16).
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