After decades of failed attempts, scientists were optimistic that a new generation of HIV vaccine candidates would finally succeed — changing the course of a pandemic that’s claimed more than 42-million lives since 1981. But that hope is now dimming as the US moves to pull vital funding.
A leaked document detailing the fate of more than 6 200 USAID programs lists two leading HIV vaccine efforts among 5 341 projects earmarked for termination. The 281-page file, reviewed by Bloomberg News and first reported by The New York Times, outlines the Trump administration’s plan to cut almost $28-billion in support for a wide range of global health initiatives — including Gavi, the vaccine alliance that immunises hundreds of millions of children against deadly diseases such as measles and malaria.
The largest HIV vaccine program on the chopping block is a long-running effort led by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, IAVI,
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