Researchers disagree over ethics of HIV treatment clinical trial in Africa, Nature reports

Jan 18 2013

Nature reports how "[a] potential breakthrough in the quest to prevent HIV and AIDS has collided with sensitivities about testing expensive drugs in poor parts of the world." A proposed clinical trial to test an experimental HIV therapy "in 3,000 African infants born to breastfeeding, HIV-infected mothers ... is drawing fire from critics," the journal writes, adding, "They cite the therapy's steep cost and lack of proven efficacy in adults, and say that an affordable way to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission already exists." Nature continues, "Those points are likely to surface at a meeting in Entebbe, Uganda, on 22-23 January, where attendees will pound out principles for conducting prevention trials in breastfeeding babies born to HIV-positive mothers in poor countries." The journal includes comments from several HIV researchers (Wadman, 1/16).