AFRO-NETS> EU-IAVI announce the strengthening of HIV vaccine partnership

[OAU Summit Secretariat <abjsummit@skannet.com>]

EU-IAVI announce the strengthening of HIV vaccine partnership
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Joint Statement by The European Union and the International AIDS Vac-
cine Initiative at the occasion of the African Summit on HIV/AIDS, 
Tuberculosis and other infectious diseases

Abuja - Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria, 26 April 2001 - The European Union (EU) and the In-
ternational AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), on the occasion of this 
important gathering of African and international leaders, wish to an-
nounce the strengthening of joint EU-IAVI efforts to confront the 
AIDS pandemic in developing countries.

The EU and IAVI consider that this summit will substantially raise 
global awareness on the need for AIDS vaccines and that the event of-
fers an opportunity to broaden our alliances in support of the devel-
opment of an AIDS vaccine for developing countries.

Preventative AIDS vaccines provide the best hope for ending the AIDS 
pandemic in the long term. The strengthening of the EU-IAVI partner-
ship reflects our common goal: to promote the accelerated development 
of AIDS vaccines and to ensure that they are available to people in 
developing countries as rapidly as possible. 

Investment and promotion of new international public goods -such as 
AIDS vaccines- are an integral part of a balanced approach as out-
lined in the European Union's new Policy and Programme for Action on 
"Accelerated Action on Major Communicable Diseases within the context 
of poverty reduction"[1]. This new policy defines a comprehensive ap-
proach to increase the impact of existing interventions, increase the 
affordability of key pharmaceuticals and to accelerate investment in 
new R&D for HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria.

The EU and IAVI will collaborate closely in accelerating the develop-
ment and availability of AIDS Vaccines for developing countries. To 
this end the EC and IAVI have agreed to strengthen their operational 
partnership[2], the first steps of which will include the following:

* IAVI will formally join in the work of the EC AIDS Vaccine Task 
  Team and provide technical input to the further development of the 
  EC's AIDS Vaccine Strategy, this will include collaboration on regu-
  latory issues and incentives to develop and ensure access to AIDS 
  Vaccines in developing countries.

* IAVI and the EC will work together to accelerate R&D programmes for 
  AIDS vaccines and to organise effective public/private support to 
  clinical trial platforms.

* IAVI and the EC share concerns on community involvement and the 
  safeguarding of ethical standards during trials. They will work to-
  gether with developing countries to build capacity and ensure ade-
  quate vaccine preparedness in advance of large-scale clinical trials.

* The EC and IAVI will build upon, and expand, existing collaboration 
  such as the joint project in South Africa. The integration of IAVI 
  technical expertise and on the ground experience into the EU country 
  programmes will bring added benefits to both partners.

* The EC and IAVI - have common partners in several EU Member States, 
  UN organisations and developing countries and will work together with 
  these various partners to promote and develop AIDS vaccines for de-
  veloping countries.

In Abuja, contact: 
Akin Jimoh 
Tel: +234-9-523-0225
mailto:ajimoh@iavi.org 

Kay Marshall
Tel: +1-212-847-1044
mailto:kmarshall@iavi.org

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Summit Media Centre
Mr. Omololu Falobi
Tel: +234-9-234-5381, 234-5413, 234-5415
Fax: +234-9-234-5487
mailto:abjsummit@skannet.com
Summit websites: 
http://www.fmh-abujasummit.org
http://www.oau-oua.org/afrsummit/index.htm

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