Many
Think AIDS Vaccine Here, But Kept Secret
Reuters Health
MAY 16, 2003
A full 20 percent of American adults mistakenly believe that a vaccine for
HIV/AIDS already exists but is being kept from the public, according to a new
government study. Ignorance of the slow rate of progress in the development of
an AIDS vaccine is rampant among US citizens, the survey finds, and is
especially high among black and Hispanic populations, which have been hit
hardest by the disease. The survey of 3,500 individuals was conducted by the
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
NIAID Director Dr. Anthony S. Fauci said his agency plans to boost education
efforts "to help correct misconceptions and advance public understanding of
ongoing and future HIV vaccine research."
According to the survey, 84 percent of Americans rate HIV/AIDS vaccine research
as either "extremely" or "very" important. This number is even higher among
minority populations at highest risk for HIV, with 96 percent of black Americans
and 94 percent of Hispanics agreeing that the quest for a vaccine is of
paramount importance. However, many also believe that a vaccine already exists
but is being kept "secret" from patients and the general public. One in five
Americans subscribe to this view, with the number rising to 28 percent and 48
percent of Hispanic and African-American respondents, respectively.
Among other survey findings:
*42 percent of those interviewed did not know that vaccines require any testing
on human volunteers before being made available to the public.
*Nearly a third erroneously believed that prospective vaccines could cause HIV
in human test subjects, while 44 percent were unsure about such dangers. Such
misconceptions could hamper recruitment of volunteers for clinical trials,
experts say.
"HIV vaccine research is our best hope, along with other prevention and
treatment efforts, to slow the spread of HIV," Fauci stressed in a NIAID
statement. Promising vaccine studies are underway in over 60 research centers in
the United States alone, with more than 12,000 individuals participating in
trials worldwide, according to NIAID.