Lok Sabha question on AIDS VACCINES

[Guest guest]

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

LOK SABHA, UNSTARRED QUESTION NO 2509. TO BE ANSWERED ON 31.07.2002

VACCINE FOR AIDS 2509.

SHRI RAVINDRA KUMAR PANDEY, KAILASH MEGHWAL SAIDUZZAMA

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Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:-

(a) whether Indian scientists at All India Institute of Medical

Sciences have recently developed artificial virus of vaccine for

AIDS;

( if so, the details thereof;

© whether it is also a fact that ICMR, Pune has developed AIDS

vaccine;

(d) if so, the details thereof;

(e) whether the Government are aware that C type of HIV virus has

been spreading in India; and

(f) if so, the action taken/being taken by the Government for

developing C type of vaccine for controlling HIV virus?

ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

(SHRI A. RAJA)

(a) & ( According to faculty members at the All India Institute of

Medical Sciences (AIIMS), scientists here are trying to develop DNA

vaccines against the HIV-1 virus sub-type C. Efforts are being made

to develop vaccine by utilizing

(i) Envelop Glyprotein gene (gp-120) DNA vaccine

(ii) Gag-gene DNA vaccine and

(iii) Pol-gene DNA vaccine.

© to (f) The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Indian

Council of Medical Research (ICMR) signed a Memorandum of

Understanding (MOU) on 4th December, 2000, with the International

AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) to promote and accelerate efforts to

develop an indigenous AIDS vaccine that will address the strains of

the HIV subtype C predominant in India. The Government of India, ICMR

and IAVI agreement is based on a commitment towards collaboration and

transparency in vaccine trials for development of a vaccine.

The Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) based HIV vaccine is being

developed. It involves innumerable complex and complicated steps. The

MVA has not reached the stage of clinical trial. This work is being

carried out by two ICMR institutions namely, National AIDS Research

Institute (NARI), Pune and National Institute of Cholera and Enteric

Diseases (NICED), Kolkata.

An Advisory Group has been constituted. It includes people living

with HIV/AIDS, NGOs and several experts, especially those working on

gender. The Advisory Group will advise Government in respect of all

aspects of vaccine development and on issues of access such as;

ethics of clinical trials; gender and human rights issues;

information dissemination; development of guidelines and protocols to

address stigma and exclusion of HIV/AIDS infected persons.

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