By
Pacharo Munthali
A new experimental HIV vaccine trial
has started at the UNC Project in Lilongwe; bringing hope to all as the world continues
to strive for an HIV-free generation.According to the UNC Project’s Co-Principal Investigator for this trial, Dr. Mitch Matoga, the study is taking place through a public-private partnership National Institute of Allergy and infectious Diseases (NIAID) under the National Institute of Health (NIH), HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), Janssen Vaccines and Prevention B.V. and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The first participant in the new trial received vaccination at UNC Project clinical research site in Lilongwe in the afternoon of 10 May 2018. Since then Malawi through the study has registered 23 participants.
Matoga said the new large-scale study, which is also taking place in South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique “will evaluate whether the vaccine is safe and able to reduce the incidence of HIV infection among 2,600 HIV-negative women in sub-Saharan Africa.”
Despite the world registering tremendous advances in HIV treatment and prevention, many people are still contracting the virus every year.
Unfortunately, women are the most affected. According to UNAIDS, women and girls account for nearly 60 percent of people living with HIV in Eastern and Southern Africa and Malawi’s HIV epidemic remains “generalized and feminized”. While the country just as the rest of the world has recorded a significant reduction in new HIV infections and AIDS related deaths; adolescent girls and young women among others are bearing “the highest burden of the epidemic.”
Around the world, there are over 2 million new HIV infections each year. In 2016, according to UNAIDS, “Malawi had 36 000 (31 000 - 45 000) new HIV infections and 24 000 (20 000 - 31 000) AIDS-related deaths.”
“No matter how many people we can get on ARVs, we cannot keep up with the pace of new infections,” Said Matoga, adding that “the search for an effective HIV vaccine is as important as ever if we want to achieve a world without AIDS.”
The search for an HIV vaccine has historically been daunting due, in part, to the unique properties of the virus, including its ability to rapidly mutate and create multiple strains and sub-types prevalent in different parts of the world.
Malawi is targeting 170 participants who will only come from within the city of Lilongwe. In Malawi, it’s only UNC Project Malawi that is conducting the study.
