A safe, effective, and affordable vaccine remains the best
long-term hope for bringing the global human immunodeficiency
virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) epidemic
under control. Recent scientific developments have suggested
that the first generation of HIV vaccines available
for public health care use will likely be of low
to moderate efficacy, compared with currently licensed vaccines
for other diseases. Nevertheless, such "partially effective"
HIV vaccines could provide considerable individual and public
health benefits. A consultation was held in January
2002 to advise the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(Atlanta, Georgia) about critical issues that need to
be addressed in anticipation of the eventual licensure and availability
of an HIV vaccine in the United States. The present
article summarizes the major issues discussed at the
consultation with regard to the potential use of
a partially effective vaccine in HIV prevention programs in
the United States and the activities that are needed to prepare
for vaccine availability.
Received 9 September 2002;
accepted 18 November 2002; electronically published 17 February 2003.
The views in this report reflect
the discussions and views of participants at this
consultation and may not be representative of Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention policy. |
