At a scientific meeting on March 25, AIDS experts said HIV/AIDS researchers must start fresh and gain more fundamental knowledge about HIV before an effective vaccine against the virus can be developed, the New York Times reports (nytimes.com, 3/26).
“Everything is on the table,” Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said at the meeting on how to best spend federal HIV vaccine research money.
Also on March 25, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation called for more funds to be spent on HIV/AIDS prevention, testing and treatment, as opposed to vaccine research, citing the failure of recent vaccines.
However, according to the Times, Dr. Fauci rejected that proposal, saying “under no circumstances will we stop AIDS vaccine research.”
NEW! Scroll down to comment on this story.
Please click OK to confirm your comment and confirm you accept our posting rules. Note your message will be reviewed by our staff before going live.
Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
Woman of the Month is supported by exclusive advertising from Gilead.
Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I recently met a guy who is negative. I did tell him about my status and he decided to kiss me anyway (we didn't go further than that). But a day later, he called and said that he actually had a mouth ulcer that time when we kissed and he was very worried. Asked if he can get the virus from me that way. For that moment, I felt so insulted and yet I felt so bad. It was my first time having a contact with a "negative" guy."
