GAIA VF was established in 2001 to promote the development of a global AIDS vaccine and to promote HIV trial expertise in Providence and Mali, West Africa, which are both future GAIA VF vaccine trial sites. Clinical trial infrastructure for the GAIA Vaccine trial is already in place in Providence, thanks to the efforts of GAIA Scientific advisor Ken Mayer and the HIV Vaccine Trials Network at Miriam Hospital. Therefore, GAIA VF efforts directed at vaccine trial preparedness are focused on Mali, where the GAIA Vaccine will be tested in parallel with the Providence trials.
Africa is home to the highest number of people living with AIDS and is the epicenter of the global epidemic. Yet conditions for HIV vaccine trials are not yet optimal for the ethical conduct of the proposed trials in Mali – nor elsewhere in sub Saharan Africa.
While preparing for the GAIA Vaccine trials that will take place in Mali, West Africa, GAIA Vaccine Foundation is promoting HIV education, treatment, and vaccine trial site infrastructure development in Mali. These efforts will make it possible to assure that GAIA’s trials will be conducted using methods that are consistent with international standards for the ethical conduct of vaccine trials. GAIA believes that active, ongoing collaboration with West African physicians and support for clinical activities in the region will foster the development of the type of regional knowledge base and level of care that is needed to pursue ethical implementation of HIV care and future HIV vaccine trials in the region.