BY MUNYARADZI BLESSING DOMA
While other biomedical prevention methods have been found to be effective, an HIV vaccine remains necessary as it offers long lasting protection and eliminates the stigma associated with treatment, among other benefits, a recent media science café has heard.
During the media science café organised by the Health Communicators Forum of Zimbabwe, Dr Muchaneta Bhondai-Mhuri, Investigator of Record at the University of Zimbabwe Clinical Trials Research Centre (UZ-CTRC), said while past trials have seen an HIV vaccine remain elusive, every study has provided new information necessary for this endeavor.
According to the National Institute of Health, “a preventative HIV vaccine is given to people who do not have HIV, with the goal of preventing HIV infection in the future.”
Dr Bhondai-Mhuri revealed that the first HIV vaccine trials in Zimbabwe were conducted in 2016 and currently the country is on its fifth trial and several lessons have been learned as the search continues for an efficacious vaccine.
“We know that more than 24 percent of people in the world who have HIV experience problems with accessing HIV treatment. We also know that all HIV prevention modalities have their own challenges that include adherence and just access.
“We know that a vaccine itself can stay in someone’s immune system for a very long time so it entails long term prevention.
“With every HIV vaccine study that is being done, we are learning something new, even if the vaccine does not show us that it is efficacious, we learn something new.
“For example, whilst the HVTN 705 study did not help us to have an efficacious vaccine, it showed us that the vaccine candidate was able to elicit an immune response which means it is possible to have a vaccine that works.
“So that is new information that will lead to the development of a better vaccine, what it means is that what one candidate needs to go back to the lab and to be tweaked for it to improve the effectiveness but we have already learnt something new,” said Dr Bhondai-Mhuri.
She added that though five HIV vaccine studies have been conducted without an effective one, they (trials) are not losses.
“So every study is not a loss, each study that we do teaches us something new and it will help us, yes the road is going to be long but we will get there,” she said.
Dr Bhondai-Mhuri also revealed that currently the country was on the HIV Vaccine Trials Network 140 (HVTN 140) which has 15 participants, showing that these are strides being taken to find a vaccine.
“We have a couple of HIV prevention modalities which have been approved by four authorities and this already includes the long-acting injectable cabotegravir (CAB LA) which has reached advanced clinical trials stages and is already in implementation trials and then we also have the dapivirine vaginal ring which has been proven to be effective and which also has been approved and we now have the Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), the daily oral prevention pill which is broadly available and it’s available whether you go to our council clinic, or you go to your local doctor, you go to your private practitioner, they will be able to offer this prevention method,” she said.
Dr Bhondai-Mhuri added; “however an HIV vaccine is still necessary in the fight against HIV because it eliminates the stigma that is associated with going looking for an HIV prevention tool from your clinic, no one really wants to be seen going to your local clinic daily to look for an HIV prevention pill.
“An HIV vaccine is going to last in your body for longer than the pills, is going to be longer than cab injection and also an HIV vaccine is likely to be one of the best tools in the prevention of HIV compared to any other method.
“It’s likely in the long run to be more effective and more cost effective than most prevention tools because one doesn’t have to visit their clinic often, you don’t have too frequent dossing so yes as a country we will need a method that is cost effective in the prevention of HIV and in safeguarding the health of our people.”
She added that the major challenge in all these years of HIV prevention vaccine trials is that we have not yet found a vaccine that is efficacious is preventing HIV, but it (challenge) was not only unique to Zimbabwe, hence a lot of work will continue to be put to make this dream a reality.
It is estimated that a total of 1,3 million people are living with HIV in Zimbabwe.
