HIV vaccine trial gathers momentum, reports Zimbabwe media

Zimbabwe’s News Day has reported on the upcoming PrEPVacc study and the importance of finding a vaccine to tackle HIV.

Aids and TB director in the Zimbabwe Health ministry Owen Mugurungi noted that Zimbabwe has experienced outages of antiretroviral drugs, but an effective vaccine would lessen the demand for these drugs.

“A vaccine is the cheapest way to manage any disease. Immunisation is better than treatment which is more expensive … Everyone is looking forward to an effective vaccine which will save many lives and billions of dollars which are being spent on treatment.” - Owen Mugurungi

PrEPVacc coordinating investigator Dr Eugene Ruzagira told News Day that one of the challenges for the trial is finding enough people willing to participate in HIV prevention trials.

“HIV vaccine trial participants may have to attend clinics where people living with HIV are treated, and may fear that people will think that they have HIV. I have worked with participants who did not want to be seen with our research teams or at our research clinics – even if they were HIV negative,” - Eugene Ruzagira

Read the News Day article here: https://www.newsday.co.zw/2019/04/hiv-vaccine-trial-gathers-momentum/