FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) September 26, 2009 -- APACHA congratulates Dr. Supachai Rerks-Ngarm, M.D., of the Thai
Ministry of Public Health's Department of Disease Control, the principal
investigator of the study which was sponsored by the U.S. Army in collaboration
with NIAID, Sanofi Pasteur and GSID.

The news about the result of the Vaccine trial should not distract the efforts
of the governments and the civil society to address the vulnerability of people
who are at the greater risk of HIV infection and real issues faced by the people
living with and affected by HIV.

An HIV vaccine will definitely add additional ammunition to our fight against
the social determinants and social consequences of HIV infection. However, HIV
vaccine will not provide

a- single magic bullet- solution to HIV epidemic.

APACHA Believes, the real heroes of this trial are the 16,402 men and women who
participated in this trial and the researchers lead by Dr. Supachai
Rerks-Ngarm. The patent rights and the intellectual rights of the data and
other potential outcome of this trial should be shared with the trial
participants as well.

The result of the study is a very important step towards the fight against HIV.
However, we are concerned about the lack of public access to the scientific data
of this study said, Prof, Joe Thomas. Chair person of APACHA.

APACHA believes, normally such a discovery should have been presented for a
publication in peer reviewed journals and

the press release should have done
when the findings of the study is published. So that the data and method of the
study should have been in the public domain for analysis and review.

We overwhelmingly applaud the news about the result of the clinical trial. We
may be writing to the Ministry of Health of the Royal Thai Government ,
requesting to take necessary steps to present the data of this trial in the
public domain". Said, Dr. Noor ul Zaman Rafiq Co Chairperson of APACHA.

It seems, the trial focused on B and E subsets of the viral strain that are
common in Thailand. APACHA would like to see, the efficacy of the present
vaccine combination being tested among other population groups exhibiting
different viral epidemiology.
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For further details please contact. Dr. Anita Manandhar Interim Coordinator of
APACHA. APACHA is the largest multi sectoral, civil society network of HIV &AIDS
response in Asia. www.apachanet.org

APACHA International Secretariat
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Email:secretariat.asia@apachanet.org