Return to the OnLine News Index . When the last of the pharmaceutical reinforcements abandoned the government-led AIDS vaccine program, the project's certain death seemed eminent. Critics say the widely publicized change exposed the NIH's uncertain research direction, but the NIH defends its decision as one of careful evaluation and rerouting. The vaccine program is not only forging ahead, but increased funding is under review. Media reports have called the future trials a lavish misuse of government funds considering the Gp-120 proteins used in nearly two dozen prior vaccines have not prevented contracting the disease.
Many questions come to mind and few have immediate answers.
Bonnie Mathieson, Ph.D. and Chair of the Vaccine Coordination Committee at the NIH's Office of AIDS Research, says no and disagrees with the harsh press on the status of the program. It is true the trials were not very effective but the sample size was too small to make the assumption that the whole Gp-120 program should be scrapped. She added that the public impatience surrounding the AIDS epidemic has contributed to the controversy. The whole nature of vaccine research can take months or even years to determine efficacy whereas drug trials can be deemed effective or benign within a matter of weeks. The scientific community is still divided over the merits of the Gp-120 vaccines until there is proof that a vaccine possibility for HIV even exists considering that vaccines are not the panacea for all viruses and ailments.