We must cure AIDS, not simply control it

It was both a clarion call and a desperate plea to medical researchers, philanthropists and political leaders worldwide on behalf of the communities and countries ravaged by the AIDS pandemic.

Ten years later, the world is still without a life- saving vaccine for a disease that last year claimed the lives of more than two million people, roughly the population of Vancouver. The total dead is more than 25 million, leaving behind 15 million orphans, and the numbers are growing every year.

We have made great strides in HIV/AIDS treatment and research, most notably right here in Canada. The effectiveness of anti-retroviral drugs, which have extended the lives of people with HIV/AIDS, has for many diminished the spectre of HIV/AIDS as an automatic death sentence.

But the management of an illness through therapy -- using medication that is beyond the reach of millions of those who have the disease -- is no substitute for prevention.

Developing an HIV vaccine has been one of the greatest challenges to the global health-research community in our lifetime, perhaps ever. HIV is one of the most complicated viruses known. Its genetic instability through rapid mutation rates is daunting.

A vaccine usually works by stimulating our bodies' own immune system, but HIV targets and destroys the immune system, making development of a vaccine much more difficult.

It is easy for those of us who may not be as directly affected by HIV/AIDS to become complacent. We must not. Canadian scientists have been at the forefront of the research since the earliest days, working on the ground in Africa where the pandemic is at its worst.

Manitoba's Dr. Allan Ronald was a research pioneer in Africa when the disease was first detected and identified. Many of the major breakthroughs in HIV/AIDS since have involved Canadian expertise such as Dr. Frank Plummer in Winnipeg and Dr. Julio Montaner in Vancouver.

Canada is poised, yet again, to play a leading role to advance HIV/AIDS knowledge for a cure.

With the partnership announced in 2007 between the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the federal government to establish the Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative, we are one of the countries pioneering the next stage.

This commitment of $139 million is a major boost to Canadian and international vaccine research.

Through this funding, a manufacturing facility will be built in Canada, perhaps here in Manitoba, that will produce promising vaccines that can move more quickly to clinical trials. Stephen Lewis has declared this initiative an "important step forward," a sentiment shared around the world.

In Bill and Melinda Gates, Ottawa chose the right allies to take vaccine development to the next level.

The foundation, in turn, chose the right ally to lead the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise when they recently appointed one of Canada's top scientists and former president of the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Dr. Alan Bernstein, as executive director of the enterprise.

Recently, the United Nations reported that the number of HIV infections in the world is lower than previously estimated. Some critics have latched onto this as cause to re-evaluate the amount of money being spent on HIV/AIDS and to reduce efforts.

Whether the numbers are 40 million or 33 million, however, it is still a pandemic. Frankly, better numbers are usually a foundation for better policy. The scourge of HIV/AIDS on the global population still remains the greatest public health crisis and only an effective vaccine and aggressive prevention efforts will change that.

Canada must continue to lead globally and must sustain a concerted, co-ordinated effort to find the elusive breakthrough that will lead, finally, to a vaccine. Ultimately, a vaccine will be developed.

We can feel confident that when that history is written, Canada will be central to the telling of this epic battle for global health.

Today is World AIDS Day. Terry Duguid is president & CEO of the Winnipeg-based International Centre for Infectious Diseases.

We can feel confident that when that history is written, Canada will be central to the telling of this epic battle for global health.

Today is World AIDS Day. Terry Duguid is president & CEO of the Winnipeg-based International Centre for Infectious Diseases.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 1, 2008 A11