Coordinating HIV vaccine research and development efforts:

Fulfilling the goals of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise through country- regional- and network-level approaches

The CHVI satellite session entitled, Coordinating HIV vaccine research and development efforts: Fulfilling the goals of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise through country- regional- and network-level approaches, took place on Sunday, August 3, 2008 from 11:15 a.m.-1:15 p.m. This satellite was conducted to promote continued interest and investment in HIV vaccine development and to enhance global collaboration and partnerships. It also provided an opportunity to showcase the CHVI as a novel partnership and the Government of Canada as a leader in partnering to advance global health objectives.

The session was well attended by approximately 60-70 participants, with the majority of attendees from international HIV vaccine organizations, followed by Canadian and U.S. government officials, researchers and community organizations. Participants were informed about collaborative and concerted global efforts regarding HIV vaccine plans and R & D in Africa, Canada, Brazil, China, and European networks. A recurring theme from the satellite is that the need for an HIV vaccine is vital and that global efforts to find a vaccine should continue despite the recent setbacks. A second theme discussed was the need to consider vaccine research as a long-term strategy that is integral to a comprehensive response to HIV/AIDS and that diverting funding from vaccines to other short-term prevention and treatment programs would not have a significant impact (since HIV vaccines funding is a small proportion of overall HIV/AIDS funding). A number of attendees participated in the Q & A session that followed the presentations, and gave favorable remarks about the satellite and reinforced the need for continued global efforts in the HIV vaccine field.

• Alan Bernstein's presentation
• Mitchell Warren's presentation
• Howard Njoo's presentation
• Holly Wong's presentation
• Kefa Tuju's presentation