South Africa has launched a major clinical trial of an experimental vaccine against the AIDS virus, which scientists hope could be the "final nail in the coffin" for the disease.

More than 30 years of efforts to develop an effective vaccine for HIV have not borne fruit, but for the first time since the virus was identified in 1983, scientists said on Wednesday they think they have found a promising candidate.

The new study, known as HVTN 702, will involve more than 5,400 sexually active men and women aged 18-35 in 15 areas around South Africa over four years.

Homeless HIV patient removed for Durban AIDS summit

It is one of the biggest clinical trials involving the disease ever undertaken and has revived hopes of a breakthrough in the battle against AIDS.

"If deployed alongside our current armoury of proven HIV prevention tools, a safe and effective vaccine could be the final nail in the coffin for HIV," said Anthony Fauci, director of the US National institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which is taking part in the study.

"Even a moderately effective vaccine would significantly decrease the burden of HIV disease over time in countries and populations with high rates of HIV infection, such as South Africa."

Condoms are at the frontline of efforts to prevent the spread of HIV, which is mainly transferred through the sexual fluids and blood of infected individuals.

A small number of people, mainly in developed countries, use virus-suppressing drugs as a preventive aid, although the exact level of protection this offers is not clear.

But relying on existing prevention methods was not working, said Mmapule Raborife, one of HIV Vaccine Trials Network's community advisors in the large township of Soshanguve, north of the administrative capital Pretoria.

'Condoms everywhere'

"There are condoms everywhere in South Africa but people are just passing by as if there is nothing there," she told AFP news agency.

South Africa was not chosen by accident. The country has one of the highest rates of HIV infection in the world - 19.2 percent according to the UN AIDS agency - with more than seven million people living with the virus.

"A vaccine is critical for South Africa," said Glenda Gray, president of the country's Medical Research Council.

"Every day, 1,000 people are getting infected and most of them are young women and men so we need to find a solution."

The vaccine has been adapted for the HIV strain prevalent in southern Africa from one used in a trial of 16,000 people in Thailand in 2009, which reduced the risk of infection by more than 30 percent for three-and-a-half years after the first jab.

The safety of the vaccine has already been tested successfully over 18 months on 252 volunteers. The new study aims to test its effectiveness as a virus-killer.

Vaccines work by priming the body to respond with germ-fighting antibodies whenever a virus or bacteria invades. But the AIDS-causing virus is stealthy and quick to mutate to avoid being targeted.

"If we have a 50 percent efficacy rate, we would consider this an effective vaccine," said Gray.

From there, it could take five to 10 years to scale up production, "and we need money to take [it] to a world level", she added.

Even if the new vaccine proves effective, experts warn it is vital to remain vigilant in the fight against HIV.

"A highly efficient vaccine would be a game-changer but the results of these trials will take years," Lynn Morris, head of the HIV virology section at South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), told AFP.

"We must continue to use other HIV prevention tools to reduce the number of new HIV infections, particularly in vulnerable populations such as young women."

How Malawi reduced its HIV/Aids infection rate

According to UNAIDS, half of the 36 million or so people with HIV around the world have access to anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs), a figure that has doubled in five years.

Thanks to these treatments, which keep the virus in check and increase the lifespan of HIV-positive people without curing them, average life expectancy in South Africa has risen from 57.1 years to 62.9 since 2009.

"I know people who are HIV positive and I know people who died because of HIV - some of them are in my family," one trial participant who declined to give her name.

"I want to make a difference in my community and in my country... There's no cure yet, so we have to keep fighting."</s>South Africa on Wednesday began a major clinical trial of an experimental vaccine against the AIDS virus, which scientists hope could be the “final nail in the coffin” for the disease.

More than 30 years of efforts to develop an effective vaccine for HIV have not borne fruit, but for the first time since the virus was identified in 1983, scientists think they have found a promising candidate.

The new study, known as HVTN 702, will involve more than 5,400 sexually active men and women ages 18 to 35 in 15 areas around South Africa over the course of four years.

It is one of the biggest clinical trials involving the disease ever undertaken and has revived hopes in the scientific community of a breakthrough in the battle against AIDS.

“If deployed alongside our current armory of proven HIV prevention tools, a safe and effective vaccine could be the final nail in the coffin for HIV,” said Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which is taking part in the study.

“Even a moderately effective vaccine would significantly decrease the burden of HIV disease over time in countries and populations with high rates of HIV infection, such as South Africa.”

Condoms are at the front line of efforts to prevent the spread of HIV, which is mainly transferred through the sexual fluids and blood of infected individuals.

A small number of people, mainly in developed countries, use virus-suppressing drugs as a preventive aid, although the exact level of protection this offers is not clear.

South Africa was not chosen by accident. The country has one of the highest rates of HIV infection in the world — 19.2 percent, according to the U.N. AIDS agency — with more than 7 million people living with the virus.

Each year some 2.5 million people around the world are infected with HIV, which has killed more than 30 million people since the 1980s, according to a study presented at a conference in South Africa in July.

The vaccine has been adapted for the HIV strain prevalent in southern Africa from one used in a trial of 16,000 people in Thailand in 2009, which reduced the risk of infection by more than 30 percent for 3½ years after the first shot.

The safety of the “South African” vaccine has already been tested successfully over 18 months on 252 volunteers. The new study aims to test its effectiveness as a virus-killer.

Vaccines work by priming the body to respond with germ-fighting antibodies whenever a virus or bacteria invades. But the AIDS-causing virus is stealthy and quick to mutate to avoid being targeted.

“The results obtained in Thailand are not good enough for a roll-out. … We have set the minimum bar at 50 percent” lower risk, Lynn Morris, head of the HIV virology section at South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Disease (NICD), said.

South Africa’s Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa told parliament in November that “scientists expect the (new) vaccine to be at least 50 percent effective but hope that it will be much higher.”

Even if the new vaccine proves effective, experts warn it is vital to remain vigilant in the fight against HIV.

“A highly efficient vaccine would be a game-changer, but the results of these trials will take years,” Morris said.

“We must continue to use other HIV prevention tools to reduce the number of new HIV infections, particularly in vulnerable populations such as young women, who continue to be most heavily affected.”

According to UNAIDS, half of the 36 million or so people with HIV around the world have access to anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs), a figure that has doubled in five years.

Thanks to these treatments, which keep the virus in check and increase the life span of HIV-positive people without curing them, average life expectancy in South Africa has risen from 57.1 years to 62.9 since 2009, according to authorities.

The new trial is being carried out by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the South African Medical Research Council, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Sanofi Pasteur, GlaxoSmithKline and the HIV Vaccine Trials Network.</s>The vaccine will be tested in a study, the first in seven years to test a vaccine against HIV, the National Institutes of Health, which is funding the study, said on Monday.

A statement says the vaccine, known as HVTN 702, will undergo the largest and most advanced clinical trial in South Africa, where more than 1,000 people are infected with HIV daily.

“If deployed alongside our current armoury of proven HIV prevention tools, a safe and effective vaccine could be the final nail in the coffin for HIV,” Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a statement on Sunday.

The vaccine is a modified version of the only one to have shown a positive effect of many that have gone on trials so far.

Seven years ago, a vaccine known as RV144 that was tested in Thailand was found to be about 31 per cent effective after 3.5 years of follow-up.

That trial was, however, controversial as the vaccine was a combination of two where one, called AidsVax, was ineffective on its own.

But researchers in constant search for a vaccine, think they could have better success in South Africa because of a number of modifications.

Already, 5,400 sexually active men and women aged 18 to 35 who do not have HIV have been enrolled for the trials and results are expected in 2020.

The volunteers will get five shots of the vaccine and three boosters — a schedule the researchers will cut down for use in the real world if it is successful. The results will set a precedence for Kenya’s yet to be launched vaccine trials expected in February.

Director of University of Nairobi’s Kenya Aids Vaccine Initiative-Institute of Clinical Research Prof Omu Anzala said if the South African vaccine shows promise, we will learn something from it to improve what we will come up with in future,” he said.

“We have tried at least 14 vaccines and will test a new one next year,” he said.

At least two-thirds of the participants will be women, who are more likely to get infected at the age 18-35 than men.

“The toolbox is in desperate need of something like this. We remain very optimistic,” said Prof Linda-Gail Bekker, of the University of Cape Town and president of the International AIDS Society.</s>The stakes are high. It’s the first study of its kind begun in seven years, and even moderate success could prove important not only in hard-hit South Africa, where more than 1,000 people a day are infected with HIV, but beyond.

“If an HIV vaccine were found to work in South Africa, it could dramatically alter the course of the pandemic,” Glenda Gray, president of the South African Medical Research Council, said Wednesday at one of the test clinics in Soshanguve township outside Pretoria. The council is helping run the study.

Developing a vaccine against the virus that causes AIDS is one of science’s greatest challenges, and the field is littered with failures. Better medications have greatly improved survival for many people, turning the virus into a chronic disease rather than a quick killer. But there is no cure, and there still are a million AIDS-related deaths a year.

The new study is based on the only vaccine attempt ever to show even marginal effectiveness, in Thailand in 2009 — a two-vaccine combination that cut the risk of HIV infection by 31 percent over 3½ years. That wasn’t nearly effective enough to use outside of research, but scientists immediately started trying to modify and improve that combination.

A small safety test in South Africa earlier this year showed that the modified vaccine combo was promising enough for a major study to probe if it really works.

The new vaccine aims to provide “greater and more sustained protection,” Mookho Malahleha, a researcher involved in the project who was at the Soshanguve clinic.

The new study, funded in part by the U.S. government’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, will enroll 5,400 sexually active men and women between 18 and 35 at sites across South Africa. Volunteers for the study will be randomly assigned to receive either five vaccine injections over a year or five placebo shots.

Results are expected in 2020. Participants who become infected with HIV will be referred to local medical providers for care and treatment and will be counseled on how to reduce their risk of transmitting the virus.

People cannot be infected through the vaccine.

The vaccine combination consists of two experimental shots — ALVAC-HIV supplied by drug maker Sanofi Pasteur, and a protein vaccine supplied by GlaxoSmithKline — that form what’s called a “prime-boost” approach. One shot primes the immune system to attack HIV and another strengthens that response. For the South African trial, the shots were adapted to the most common HIV strain in southern Africa, and scientists added an additional booster dose in hopes of prolonging protection.

South Africa has more than 6.8 million people living with HIV, but the country has had success in rolling out an HIV drug treatment program for 3.1 million people, the largest in the world, according to Doctors Without Borders. Life expectancy in South Africa, which sank as the epidemic grew, has rebounded from 57.1 years in 2009 to 62.9 years in 2014.</s>A new HIV vaccine is now being tested in South Africa in a study that aims to enroll several thousand people, officials announced today.

The study is the first in seven years to test the effectiveness of a vaccine against HIV, said the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is funding the study.

"If deployed alongside our current armory of proven HIV-prevention tools, a safe and effective vaccine could be the final nail in the coffin for HIV," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a statement. "Even a moderately effective vaccine would significantly decrease the burden of HIV disease over time in countries and populations with high rates of HIV infection."

In South Africa, more than 1,000 people contract HIV each day, the NIH said.

The last HIV vaccine to show promise was tested in Thailand starting in 2003. In 2009, researchers from that study announced that the vaccine was 31 percent effective at preventing HIV infection over 3.5 years.In other words, the rate of infection was 31 percent lower in the group that got the vaccine, compared to the group that got a placebo.

The new South African study will use an HIV vaccine that is similar to the one used in the Thai study but that has been modified to provide greater and longer-lasting protection, the researchers said.

The researchers want to enroll 5,400 sexually active men and women ages 18 to 35 who do not have HIV, and results are expected in 2020, the NIH said.

"HIV has taken a devastating toll in South Africa, but now we begin a scientific exploration that could hold great promise for our country," study researcher Glenda Gray, president and chief executive officer of the South African Medical Research Council, said in a statement. [27 Devastating Infectious Diseases]

In the Thai study, researchers used two vaccines: one called ALVAC-HIV, which consisted of a bird virus that had been modified to contain three HIV genes, and another vaccine called a protein subunit vaccine, which contained a genetically engineered version of a protein found on the surface of HIV.

The South African study will use these two vaccines, but with some key changes. Both vaccines in the new study have been modified to protect against a subtype the virus known as HIV subtype C, which is found in especially high numbers in South Africa. In addition, the protein subunit vaccine used in the new study will contain a different adjuvant (an ingredient added to a vaccine to boost its effects) than the one used in the Thai study. And the South African study will include a booster shot after one year, with the hopes of prolonging the protective effect, the researchers said.

Participants in the new study will be randomly assigned to receive either the study vaccines or a placebo. If any participants become infected with HIV, they will be referred to local medical staff for care, and will be counseled on how to reduce their risk of transmitting HIV, the NIH said.

Sanofi Pasteur will supply the ALVAC-HIV vaccine, and GlaxoSmithKline will provide the protein subunit vaccine.
• 30 Years Later: AIDS by the Numbers</s>Gugulethu Township, South Africa (CNN) Every day, Luyanda Ngcobo's routine is the same: It starts with a trip to the back cupboard, where safely hidden away is a bottle of nevirapine, an antiretroviral pill he has to take twice a day for the rest of his life.

"Some young people don't want to take the pills because they have that anger like, 'Why me? Why do I have this particular disease and why do I need to take these pills?' " he said.

But Ngcobo has never had the luxury of choice. His HIV was passed on from his mother at birth. He says the "Why me?" question often pops up, though it is never followed by finger-pointing.

"I never had that blame feeling in my heart, no," he insisted. "Because I know that my mother wouldn't have purposely given me HIV if she knew. Not my mom. That is how she is."

Luyanda Ngcobo says a vaccine would "prevent cases like mine, where a kid is born with HIV and brought into this world with an illness that is incurable."

Ngcobo's one pill taken twice a day is a far cry from the cocktail of drugs needed to combat the condition just a few years ago.

Billions of dollars in funding by the United States through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief means millions of people are now on lifesaving HIV treatment -- and that treatment continues to improve.

Ngcobo's medication is also more effective than previous tablets, which he says is important, because the stigma around HIV and AIDS still exists.

"You can't even cough without people feeling sorry for you," he said.

That stigma is one reason why many young people keep their status hidden and why many more refuse to even get tested.

Ngcobo says he doesn't know how many people in this tightly populated township are living with HIV or are on courses of treatment like his.

But the government estimates that more than 3 million South Africans are on antiretrovirals: the highest figure in the world and a tremendous public health burden for this developing nation.

No generation suffers from the effects of the disease more than Ngcobo's, but prevention and treatment, especially among teenagers, goes only so far.

Worldwide, it's estimated that one adolescent becomes infected with HIV/AIDS every two minutes.

Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, says the perception that the global HIV/AIDS crisis is over is "completely unwarranted."

He points to the United States, where, despite prevention efforts, infection rates have remained stubbornly level for the past 15 years.

In South Africa, there are still more teenagers with HIV than are receiving treatment. That, says Bekker, is a lethal combination.

"If we ultimately want to control this epidemic, we are going to need to control the number of people becoming infected, and there is no better way, no sustainable way, than having a prophylactic vaccine," she said.

"It is the holy grail of epidemic control."

Recruiting in a mall is usually difficult, says Noro Tshongoyi. Sure, there are plenty of crowds, but people are too busy shopping to pay attention.

"They don't want to just stand there and listen to me talk," she said.

But it's different with this trial, she says, since she's offering them a chance to be part of history.

In the past month, sites in South Africa have begun enrolling more than 5,000 HIV-negative volunteers to take part in the largest vaccine trial in nearly a decade.

The phase III HVTN 702 study builds off a 2009 trial in Thailand, which was the first to show any signs of protection against HIV, with 31% protection against the virus.

By amplifying the vaccine, researchers are now hoping for 50% to 60% efficacy in the South African trial.

Fauci says that even a moderately effective vaccine would be a "major advance."

Tshongoyi approaches two young women who need very little convincing before exchanging details.

"The problem is, they can't negotiate when it comes to sex," she said. "They want to protect themselves, but with a condom, they can't. If their boyfriend doesn't want to use one, that is it."

'The last chapters of HIV'

For years, the facility has carried out trial after trial, though never one like HVTN 702.

"We have written half the book," Bekker said. "This is not the time to put the book down and walk away. We can collectively write the last chapters of HIV."

But the South African government recently redirected a portion of its research budget, and there are fears that outside funding from the United States and other donors could also dry up.

If HVTN 702 doesn't succeed, researchers know, the next trial would be years away.

It's early afternoon, and the center is still full of mainly young women, desperate to gain control.

Inside one of the examination rooms, Azola Dayeni reads about the pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP) study she has enrolled in.

"I have a partner, but I don't trust him," she explained. She hopes the PrEP will keep her safe -- but, she said, "a vaccine is the ultimate protection."

No matter how good treatment becomes, the impact of HIV on Titila Mputa's family is permanent.

"I just went out to school, and when I left, (my mother) was fine," Mputa recalled. "When I came back, she was not there, and they told me that she was in hospital, that she had a stroke."

Four successive strokes, complications of the virus, crippled her mother. The treatment saved her mother's life, but Mputa doesn't want any other families to suffer like they did.

She is HIV-negative, so she volunteered to participate in the initial phases of the study that cleared the way for HVTN 702.

She knows it's too late for her family and for many in her generation but is excited to be able to help ensure that there's hope for the next.

"You get to be the superhero that you want to be," Mputa said. "You doing this can help a thousand people out there. You doing this can help create an HIV-free generation."</s>In line with World Aids Day tomorrow, Thursday 1 December, a landmark clinical trial to test whether a vaccine regimen can prevent HIV infection in the South African population, kicks off today.

5 400 participants, 15 sites

 The vaccine will be administered to 5 400 participants in the trial at 15 research sites. It will take about 20 months for the vaccine to be administered to all the participants in the trial.



 1st sites activated

 They are the MRC HRPU Research Site in Verulam and the Setshaba Research Centre in Soshanguve. Activation of the Emavundleni Clinical Research Centre is expected to take place soon.



 1000 people per day

 With more than 1 000 people becoming infected with HIV every day in South Africa we are in dire need of better HIV prevention options despite recent advances. A safe and effective HIV vaccine would go a long way towards ending HIV in the country.



 HVTN 702 trial
• is the only efficacy trial of a preventive HIV vaccine taking place anywhere in the world at present
• is the first such trial to be launched in seven years and that solely in South Africa
• is the largest and most advanced HIV vaccine trial yet launched in southern Africa

 The vaccine

 A modified form of the only vaccine regimen that has shown a measure of efficacy in preventing HIV infection will be used in the trial. The regimen was tested in the RV144 trial which is known as the Thai study. A 31 percent reduction in HIV infections after 3.5 years was reported.

 

 The modified vaccine has been tested in a smaller trial HVTN 100 with the immune-system response shown by participants meeting the expected criteria thus justifying proceeding with HVTN 702. A modified form of the only vaccine regimen that has shown a measure of efficacy in preventing HIV infection will be used in the trial. The regimen was tested in the RV144 trial which is known as the Thai study. A 31 percent reduction in HIV infections after 3.5 years was reported.The modified vaccine has been tested in a smaller trial HVTN 100 with the immune-system response shown by participants meeting the expected criteria thus justifying proceeding with HVTN 702.



 The trial

 It will test whether a combination of vaccines is:
• Safe for use and well-tolerated by those receiving it
• Effective in preventing HIV among people who have not been infected with HIV

 All volunteers must be aged between 18 and 35, sexually active, in general good health and HIV-negative.

 

 HVTN 702 is a placebo-controlled trial, meaning that participants are randomly assigned to two groups where one group will receive the test vaccines and the other will receive a placebo which is a simple saline solution.

 

 During the trial all participants will be counselled to continue using established methods of HIV protection, but existing methods are imperfect and some participants will acquire HIV during the study. It will test whether a combination of vaccines is:All volunteers must be aged between 18 and 35, sexually active, in general good health and HIV-negative.HVTN 702 is a placebo-controlled trial, meaning that participants are randomly assigned to two groups where one group will receive the test vaccines and the other will receive a placebo which is a simple saline solution.During the trial all participants will be counselled to continue using established methods of HIV protection, but existing methods are imperfect and some participants will acquire HIV during the study.

The result

 If HVTN 702 shows the study vaccine to be effective, this trial could dramatically change the course of the HIV epidemic.

23-year old Nkosiyaze Ncube from Inanda is the first person to be injected with the new HIV vaccine.

NATIONAL NEWS & VIDEO - The HVTN 702 vaccine trial in SA is currently the only HIV trial being conducted in the world.</s>Premier Alden McLaughlin delivered a message supporting World AID’s Day here in the Cayman Islands and congratulating “the excellent work being done by the Health Services Authority, Cayman AIDS Foundation and the Red Cross to educate and inform our people on HIV and AIDS.”

He also said :

“According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 35 million people have died from AIDS-related illnesses since the start of the epidemic in the early 1980s, including 1.1 million in 2015.

“Unfortunately, we in the Cayman Islands are also affected by this global epidemic. Our first case was identified in 1985 and since then 145 people have been confirmed with the virus. Currently there are 39 males and 28 females living here with the disease.”

In 1984 when HIV was found to be the cause of AIDS the US Department of health were reasonably confident they would find a cure for the disease within two years.

“More than three decades later, a safe and effective preventive vaccine has yet to be licensed and more than 250 clinical trials have failed. A large study set to begin in South Africa on the eve of World AIDS day, held on 1 December 2016, is proving to be scientists’ best hope in seven years.” – Léa Surugue

 International Business Times.

Why is it so hard to find a vaccine for HIV? Surugue asks the same question and in her article she says:

HIV is very different from all the other viruses for which a vaccine has successfully been developed. Diseases like polio or small pox have different degrees of morbidity and mortality, but in most people who become infected, the viruses elicit an effective immune response in the body that ultimately clears the virus and protects the person from reinfection with the same virus. Vaccines for the two diseases mimic this protective response.

“Back in the day when there was still small pox, mortality was 15 to 20%. This means that 80 to 85% of people survived and did well in the long term,” said Fauci. “With polio, more than 90% of people ultimately do well. So the body proves that it is capable of mounting an effective immune response.

“Thus, natural infection has provided a ‘proof of concept’ indicating that it is feasible and likely that you will be able to reproduce this natural immune response with a vaccine, based on this successful experiment of nature.”

The problem with HIV is that the body does not easily mount a good immune response against HIV. Among people who are infected, virtually no one goes on to clear the virus or keep it at low level – with the exception of elite controllers who represent less than a fraction of 1% of all HIV infections. This means that to find an effective HIV vaccine, scientists have to do ‘better than nature’.

“When researchers start to think about developing HIV vaccines, they face the problem of having to do better than natural infection. The body does not make a good immune response, and so we have to figure out a way to push the body to create something that it does not readily do naturally. This is why it has been so hard to find a vaccine”, Fauci said.

Read the whole article at: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/why-it-so-hard-find-vaccine-hiv-1593486

Let us pray the South African vaccine trials prove to be successful although they appear to have only a 31.2% effective at preventing HIV infection over a 3.5 year testing period.

As Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases, one of the trial’s funders, told IBTimes UK: “A vaccine with a 31.2% efficacy is not something you want to widely distribute, but it is enough to encourage you to try and expand upon it.

I leave the final words to our Premier:

“AIDS is a life-threatening illness. Therefore, we must ensure that all of us – young and old – adhere to safe sexual practices. If we do not abide by our own actions to prevent the spread of HIV, the consequences can be grave.

“I also ask that you treat everybody with HIV with respect and compassion. While our health services provide medical care for these persons, we also need to offer our support as a community. We should never stigmatise anyone because they are HIV-positive.

“Finally, as we mark World AIDS Day, please take a moment to remember those whose lives were claimed by this terrible virus. Let us not forget family, friends and neighbours here in the Cayman Islands, and overseas, who died too young, too soon.”

Free HIV testing is still being offered here in the Cayman Islands at a number of locations until Saturday, 3 December.

Free HIV Testing

 Free HIV Testing is available at Faith Hospital, George Town General Practice Clinic and Bodden Town Health Center Monday — Friday from 9am until 1pm and at the West Bay Health Center except on Wednesday. Testing will be available at the East End Health Center on Monday from 1 — 3pm and Tuesday — Friday from 9am until 1pm; at North Side Health Center on Tuesday and Friday from 9am until 1pm and on Wednesday and Thursday from 1 — 3pm; at the AIDS Foundation on Monday and Wednesday from 5 — 7pm and at the Red Cross on Tuesday from 5 to 7pm and on Thursday from 6 to 8pm. Little Cayman clinic offers testing on Tuesday from 9am — 1pm.

To read Premier McLaughlin’s World AIDS Day Message go to: http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/premier-and-minister-for-health-hon-alden-mclaughlin-mbe-jp-mla-world-aids-day-message-2016/</s>Washington, DC - Secretary of State John Kerry: "On World AIDS Day, we commemorate the lives lost and communities devastated by HIV/AIDS. We also celebrate those lives that have been saved and the courageous individuals who have brought hope and healing to those living with and affected by this disease.

"Thirty-five years ago, the first published report appeared of five previously healthy men in Los Angeles diagnosed with what soon would be known as AIDS.

"I have been engaged in the AIDS response since my days in the Senate. Confronted with the enormity of the global epidemic, we did not retreat—we faced the challenge head-on, in a bipartisan fashion. Today, we are proud to say that thanks to our unprecedented investments through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in data-driven, scientifically-proven efforts, we are progressing toward the first AIDS-free generation in more than 30 years.

"PEPFAR also announced its latest global results, including nearly 11.5 million people supported on life-saving antiretroviral treatment and more than 11.7 million voluntary medical male circumcision procedures provided, which both exceed the 2016 PEPFAR targets set by President Obama. PEPFAR has prevented nearly two million babies from being born with HIV, almost twice the number that I announced in 2013. And we now have clear evidence that the AIDS epidemic is becoming controlled in older adults and babies in Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. These are historic achievements that should make every American proud.

"But our work is far from done. There are still millions of people worldwide living with HIV/AIDS who have yet to receive treatment. In sub-Saharan Africa, adolescent girls and young women are up to 14 times more likely to get HIV/AIDS than young men. Experts tell us that we have a narrow window to change the course of the pandemic.

"Today, we reaffirm and redouble our commitment to ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030, the Global Goal target agreed to by 193 United Nations member states."</s>When Frannie Peabody’s grandson Peter Vom Lehn, died of AIDS in 1984, she didn’t pretend something else caused his death. She didn’t hide her head in shame or criticize, reject, or condemn him in any way. It happened to other people. I know because I told some of their stories.

I remember the father who wrote to me after seeing a series of reports I did on the AIDS epidemic. He told me that his son, who was HIV-positive, was no longer welcome in his home.

I attended the funeral of a mother who constantly had to fight against discrimination and fear. When her young daughter started first grade in a new community she addressed an auditorium full of parents and the media. To assure them that her little girl, who also had AIDS, would not pose a threat.

I interviewed a woman who was determined to close the doors on a nearby apartment house that was home to several men with HIV/AIDS. She was afraid. She later met with the men and became one of their staunchest supporters.

Frannie Peabody didn’t turn her back on her grandson. Or anybody else who was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Instead, she stretched out her hand and her heart and joined an AIDS support group at First Parish Unitarian Church in Portland. An 80-year old grandmother in a roomful of gay men.

She helped establish the first AIDS Hotline in Maine and in 1986, the AIDS project. It became Maine’s largest AIDS service organization. In 1999 she co-founded Peabody House — still the first and only assisted living facility in Maine for people in the advanced stages of HIV.

Frannie died in 2001 at the age of 98. She dedicated the final 18 years of her life trying to make a difference for people affected by HIV/AIDS.

This remarkable woman’s legacy continues to live on. The year after her death, the AIDS project and Peabody House merged to become Frannie Peabody Center.

When I reminded some people that December 1st is World AIDS Day and said that I was planning to write a blog post, a few said, “Isn’t AIDS all but gone in this country?”

It may not be the epidemic it once was here, but people are still being diagnosed with HIV and AIDS. Maine sees about 60 new cases every year. Some of the people who were diagnosed in the 80s are still alive today thanks to an array of medications. You can read about some Maine people living with HIV/AIDS in another blog post I wrote — SeeingME: Profiles of Resilience.



 Because there is still a need, Frannie Peabody Center still exists with the same mission it has always had: To prevent the spread of HIV and provide support to those living with HIV/AIDS in Maine.

“Fulfilling that mission has looked different over the years,” Katie Rutherford, the Center’s development director told me. “We’ve been able to adapt to our clients’ needs and be creative and strategic in the way that we are able to deliver our services, whether changing from a hospice care facility to federal housing grants. We consider ourselves a client-centered organization and that’s really paramount to the way that our programs are designed and the work we do every day. It’s very much rooted in compassionate care which is really something that we value very strongly primarily because of Frannie Peabody herself. She laid the groundwork for what we do.”
• assistance in the form of mortgage, rent, and utility payments for people living with HIV/AIDS

The Center also continues to try and break down barriers and fight against stigma. Yes, three decades later, people with HIV and AIDS must still endure stigma.

“There is tremendous stigma,” said executive director Donna Galluzzo, “and especially against high-risk groups of people who are at risk for HIV. They are certainly still among the most stigmatized people in society. That is a huge piece that we continue to fight every day.”

How you can help

Frannie Peabody Center is a non-profit organization that relies on funding from various sources to provide its services. It also relies on volunteers. If you’re interested in helping out with any of its annual events, contact them through the website.

You’re also invited to attend the World AIDS Day events the Center is sponsoring in Portland. They not only help draw attention to the issue they’re an opportunity, said Katie, “to remember the people we have lost and to show support moving forward.”

Candlelight Vigil in Congress Square Park at 5:15 followed by a screening of the film Uncle Howard at the Portland Museum of Art.

Because every Thursday I share a recipe on Catching Health, here is a recipe for a hearty slow-cooked beef stew from one of Frannie Peabody Center’s clients. As it would be for anyone with a chronic illness or a compromised immune system, nutritious meals are essential for people living with HIV and AIDS.
South Africa launches the HVTN 702 trial for an experimental AIDS vaccine, which will involve over 5,400 men and women over the course of four years.