Thoughts
As is widely known, many of the poorest countries of the world are among those most affected by HIV/AIDS. Halting the epidemic is a prerequisite for reaching key social and economic development goals to lower poverty rates, ensure that all children complete primary education, reduce child mortality, and improve maternal health. In Kofi Annan’s words, “Only if we meet this challenge can we succeed in our other efforts to build a humane, healthy and equitable world.â€
The statistics are appalling. More than 20 million have died of AIDS. Nearly 12,000 new infections occur daily, and an estimated 40.3 million people are currently infected. Burgeoning epidemics in Asia and Eastern Europe threaten to dwarf the sub-Saharan crisis in the coming decades in the absence of effective AIDS prevention and control programs. In 1996, I founded IAVI, the world’s first biomedical product development public private partnership (PDPPP) to advance the development of AIDS vaccines for use globally, and particularly in the areas most affected by HIV and AIDS. At the time, the world was paying little attention to AIDS vaccine research and development. IAVI faced great skepticism that a non profit could advance vaccine R&D. Yet, with IAVI’s formation, the HIV vaccine field has significantly evolved, including a concerted effort by IAVI and others to answer key scientific questions that have persistently impeded the search for a vaccine. Meshing scientific, policy, and advocacy initiatives, IAVI has remained the PDPPP in the global health field, significantly advancing the field of vaccine R&D and access to an AIDS vaccine where it is most needed. Science magazine, in its 2004 Breakthroughs of the Year issue, recognized IAVI as a leading pioneer in the PDPPP movement, to revolutionize the way that medicines and vaccines are being produced and delivered to the world’s poorest people. Hallmarks of IAVI’s legacy during its first ten years include: millions of dollars in new funds for vaccine development, a growing network of internationally recognized laboratories and clinical trial centers in Africa and India, standardized techniques for monitoring the effectiveness of experimental vaccines, pioneering consultations on gender issues in vaccine trials, and a growing committed political leadership from both the North and the South. IAVI introduced the first vaccine candidates specifically designed for Africa and other developing countries, and initiated the first ever trials in Germany, Kenya, India, Rwanda, and Zambia. IAVI could not have achieved so much so quickly without private sector philanthropic support. IAVI’s founding donors included the Rockefeller, Starr, and Sloan Foundations and a leading AIDS charity, Until There’s a Cure. In addition, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s initial challenge grant was immediately met with a generous donation from the James B. Pendleton Charitable Trust to launch our first research consortium of leading labs in the field. Today IAVI is supported by dozens of foundations and corporations, and hundreds of generous individuals from around the world, as well as government development agencies in the US, Canada and Europe. The world needs an AIDS vaccine. |
