CAPE TOWN, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- South Africa on Wednesday started a ground-breaking trial that will test the effectiveness of a vaccine to prevent HIV.
This new preventative vaccine trial, HVTN 702, is the only one of its kind in the world and is only being conducted in South Africa.
More than 5,000 South African volunteers took part in the trial, conducted at different venues.
Speaking on AM Live radio, the Protocol Co-chair for the HVTN 702 study, Dr Linda-Gail Bekker said a preventative HIV vaccine is really the holy grail of prevention for HIV.
"We know that we won't get complete control or even eradication of the HIV epidemic unless we have a vaccine that can protect people and make sure they don't become infected."
"We're very optimistic that we're going to be able to push that vaccine efficacy up to a range where regulators will be very interested to licence, and if we can licence a vaccine we really do begin to see a game changer in the HIV epidemic," Bekker said.
Also on Wednesday, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) welcomed HIV self-testing (HIVST) and partner notification, and fully endorsed any efforts to implement self-testing more widely and make self-tests freely available in the public sector.
This came after the World Health Organization (WHO) released the guidelines earlier this week.
HIVST empowers people to know their status, and the huge potential offered by this new tool to improve access to patient-centred testing should be grabbed with both hands, MSF said in a statement emailed to Xinhua.
The finalization of South Africa's next National Strategic Plan for HIV, tuberculosis, and sexually transmitted infections (2017-2022) should set high ambitions for the introduction and availability of self-tests over the next five years.
At present, HIVST can act as a screening tool to minimize the time people need to spend at healthcare services, or be done in the privacy of one's own home with people referring themselves to care if they test HIV-positive.
MSF experience has shown that different testing methods reach different demographic groups, and new methods are likely to be particularly important in reaching those who remain untested. Long waiting at health facilities, or being asked to repeat counselling sessions at each test may deter people from accessing conventional HIV testing services.
Patients and communities should have the option to decide when to test for HIV and choose if they want to do it in privacy, MSF said.
MSF research in South Africa has shown that self-tests are an acceptable form of testing, including among youth, who are at high risk of HIV infection, and can be used correctly under supervision to return accurate results.
In KwaZulu-Natal Province, outreach testing by MSF counselors and community health workers in the communities of Eshowe and Mbongolwane has made it possible to learn one's HIV status while at school, work, home, or doing business in town, and increased the numbers of people testing.
Self-tests can take HIV testing a step closer to these communities, though further research is urgently needed to better understand strategies for self-test distribution, as well as how best to support linkage to confirmatory testing and treatment initiation.
MSF is an independent international medical humanitarian organization working to bring emergency medical care to people caught in conflict, crises and disasters in more than 65 countries around the world including South Africa.
