AIDS rarely makes the headlines in Canada any more, but it is the story in many parts of the developing world. In Botswana, for instance, it is currently projected that two-thirds of 15-year-old boys will eventually die of the disease. Exchanging information about international issues like this was one of the reasons the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and several partners, including the South African High Commission, sponsored a panel discussion on HIV/AIDS research in Ottawa in mid-February.
Dr. William Makgoba, president of the Medical Research Council of South Africa, described that country's “presidential AIDS initiative,” in which the research effort is focused on developing an effective and affordable vaccine against HIV. Makgoba said 250 scientists and 50 students are currently pursuing 10 possible vaccines in South Africa. The most advanced effort is probably the one based on Venezuelan equine encephalitis, which employs genetic material for clade C strains of HIV, which are the most prevalent strains in Africa.
The etiology of AIDS has been a controversial issue in South Africa, where both the president and health minister have mused about whether HIV is really the cause of the illness. The panellists agreed there is consensus that HIV does indeed cause AIDS, but they said that the epidemic itself has many causes, such as famine, poverty and war. They noted that prevention cannot take place and treatment cannot be provided unless an infrastructure is in place to support such efforts.
Although there has been alarming news about AIDS rates in Africa — the UN says the disease claimed 2.4 million lives in sub-Saharan Africa in 2000 — panellists heard that the incidence also continues to rise in Southeast Asia, where an estimated 780 000 adults became infected last year. The UN also warns that infection rates in developed countries “show no signs of slowing,” with 45 000 new infections in North America last year. In Canada the number of new infections has remained stable at around 4200 new infections per year since 1996, although the incidence is now rising in specific populations, such as Aboriginals and injection drug users.