Research and Development

There is no cure for HIV/AIDS.  This makes expanding research and development crucial to ending the devastation of the pandemic.  Two key areas of scientific study currently hold promise:  First, the development of a vaccine against HIV and second, new, better life-saving therapies to treat HIV and AIDS.  The UNGASS Declaration of Commitment recognizes both of these imperatives, and also pledges to increase research and development of prevention and drug monitoring strategies.

Prevention can slow the spread of the virus.  However, the best hope of truly ending the epidemic lies in a vaccine.   Developing such a vaccine has presented enormous challenges to the scientific community, particularly because the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) mutates extremely rapidly.  Still, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies along with academic and government institutions continue to search for a viable vaccine.  

While a scientific breakthrough is not imminent, the global community must prepare should a vaccine become possible.  This means ensuring that the vaccine is affordable to developing countries and easy to use in places where health systems are poor.  Currently, only about 1% of resources spent on health product development are channeled towards the development of a vaccine.  The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNAIDS have established an HIV Vaccine Initiative www.who.int/vaccine_research/diseases/hiv/en/ to advocate greater research commitment and represent the needs of prospective clients.

Anti-retroviral therapies, first introduced in 1987, have changed the landscape of the AIDS epidemic where they are available.  In many places, such as the United States and across Europe, these drugs have turned a death sentence into a manageable, chronic disease.   With continued research into improved drug therapies, researchers hope to create affordable HIV/AIDS treatments that can be used by anyone, no matter where they live, and without troublesome side-effects.

By adopting the Declaration of Commitment, governments committed themselves to(1):

• Increase and accelerate research on HIV vaccines.
• Increase research to improve: prevention and therapy, access to prevention, care, treatment, women-controlled methods of prevention, microbicides, and the means to prevent mother-to-child transmission; understanding of the epidemic; and a conducive and ethical environment for research(2). 
• Support the development of research infrastructure, laboratory capacity, surveillance systems, data collection, processing and dissemination, and training of researchers, social scientists, health-care providers and technicians, particularly in countries most affected by, or at high risk of, HIV/AIDS(3). 
• Develop approaches to monitoring treatment efficacy, toxicity, side effects, drug interactions, resistance, and the impact of treatment on HIV transmission and risky behaviours(4). 
• Strengthen cooperation – including with UNAIDS – in transferring technologies and exchange of experiences, best practices, researchers and research findings in such a way that the results are owned by all parties to the research and are free from bias(5). 
• By 2003, ensure that all research protocols are evaluated by independent ethics committees that include people living with HIV/AIDS and caregivers(6). 

Footnote

(1) Keeping the Promise

(2) Paragraph 70.

(3) Paragraph 71.

(4) Paragraph 72.

(5) Paragraph 73.

(6) Paragraph 74.