Development of HIV/AIDS Vaccine Crucial to Fight Against Pandemic, Letter to Editor Says

A recent Washington Post article "shed welcome light on how, despite advances in access to AIDS treatment in the developing world, the disease is overwhelming efforts to combat it," Seth Berkley, president and CEO of the AIDS Vaccine Initiative, writes in a Post letter to the editor. However, the article "failed to explore how these facts underscore the imperative for doing everything possible to find a safe, effective vaccine for AIDS," according to Berkley. He adds that researchers have "made significant progress addressing the scientific challenges to designing an AIDS vaccine" and that more than "30 clinical vaccine trials are underway." However, "more must be done to accelerate this research," including expanding "developing-country involvement" in vaccine research and development; collaborating "creatively to deliver improved vaccine candidates" to trials; securing "sustained funding to overcome the enormous scientific" barriers; and developing "novel incentives to increase private-sector involvement in AIDS vaccine research." Berkley concludes that the international community should "continue to build on current programs but not forget that there is no way out of this epidemic without an AIDS vaccine" (Berkley, Washington Post, 6/29).