The Science, Technology, and Ethics of HIV Vaccine Research

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The Science, Technology, and Ethics of HIV Vaccine Research

An annual report recently released by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS indicated that the number of HIV-infected individuals increased 10 percent in the last year, bringing the number of people worldwide who are now carrying the virus to over 33 million. According to the report, half of these new infections were in people15 to 24 years old, and there were 11 new infections a minute. Sub-Saharan Africa reportedly accounts for two thirds of the infected population and about 12 million AIDS related deaths. There were 200,000 new HIV infections in Latin American and the Caribbean last year and 800,000 new HIV infections reported in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Conversely, there were only 75,000 new HIV infections in the United States, the same number that was reported last year. The burden of HIV is obviously not borne equally by industrialized and developing countries. As illustrated by the dichotomous relationship between the total number of HIV infected adults and the number new HIV infections in industrialized countries versus developing countries the epidemic is disproportionately affecting the populations in developing countries.

The necessity for an HIV vaccine is increasing evident as the epidemic is spreading rampantly in areas of the world where there is limited access to therapeutic HIV treatments, where educational, financial, and governmental resources are inadequate, and where the population may lack a general understanding about the transmission and consequences of the disease. In the United States and other industrialized countries, the number of AIDS related deaths and new HIV infections is declining due to effective therapeuti...

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