G8 International Vaccine Initiative ‘Important Achievement,’ Editorial Says
President Bush's ability to influence the Group of Eight nations to agree to "make an AIDS vaccine an international scientific priority [is] an important achievement," a St. Petersburg Times editorial says (St. Petersburg Times, 6/15). G8 leaders from the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Canada and Russia last week at a summit in Sea Island, Ga., announced the formation of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise to speed the development of an HIV/AIDS vaccine and streamline research and development efforts. The plan calls for the establishment of HIV vaccine development centers throughout the world, the expansion of manufacturing capabilities, the creation of standardized measurement systems, the construction of clinics for trials and the creation of rules allowing regulatory authorities in different countries to recognize the results of foreign clinical trials. In addition, the initiative will encourage scientists from developing nations to play a larger role in the search for a vaccine (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 6/14). The "small and promising initiative ... essentially brings all scientific efforts under one big tent," the editorial says. Aside from Bush's "obsession with abstinence-only prevention methods," he has been a "leader in committing the United States to significant contributions in the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic," the editorial concludes (St. Petersburg Times, 6/15).
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