Africa researches HIV/Aids breastfeeding vaccine

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Africa researches HIV/Aids breastfeeding vaccine

March 02, 2006, 09:00

By Bennen Buma Gana

A research centre in Cameroon is working on a vaccine specifically to

protect breastfeeding babies from getting HIV from their mothers. The centre

in Yaoundé will run clinical trials of the vaccine being developed by

Families First Africa, an international partnership led by the United

Nations' Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Newborns given the vaccine should be protected from infection while

breastfeeding, says Vittorio Colizzi of the Tor Vergata University in Italy,

one of the new centre's partners. Colizzi says the vaccine will soon be

ready for initial safety tests.

According to the World Health Organisation, breastfeeding could account for

up to half of HIV infections in infants and young children in areas where

the practice is common and prolonged. Colizzi says the centre's other aims

include improving HIV/Aids diagnosis in children, and researching HIV's

ability to resist drugs used in Cameroon.

It will also provide training for researchers from the region. The centre's

other research partners are the Institute of Human Virology at the

University of land in the USA, the World Foundation for Aids Research

and Prevention and Italy's Higher Health Institute. The Italian health

ministry, the European Union, UN, and the government of Cameroon are funding

the centre. - SciDev.Net