HIV vaccine trial in Tanzania 'yields promising results'
03/02/2010
A medical trial which was conducted in Tanzania found that a new vaccine can reduce the likelihood of HIV patients contracting tuberculosis (TB) by up to 40 per cent.
The results of the DarDar Health Study, which involved researchers from the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Dar es Salam and the Dartmouth Medical School (DMS), were highlighted in the latest edition of AIDS journal.
Its outcome offered new hope to those suffering from HIV, as tuberculosis is the most frequent cause of death in HIV patients living in developing nations.
DMS professor and principal investigator Fordham von Reyn told TheDartmouth.com: "This is a milestone in TB vaccine development for people with HIV. If even 50 per cent of people in Tanzania were immunised, we could prevent 3,000 cases of TB a year."
In November, a report compiled by the World Health Organization, Unicef and the Joint United Nations Programme stated that Tanzania is falling behind other Eastern African countries when it comes to providing treatment for HIV and AIDS patients.
Written by John Curtis 
