The second human trials of an AIDS vaccine will be held in Beijing,
David Ho, the inventor of the AIDS "cocktail" treatment revealed Friday.
Patients can have their lives extended by at least ten years thanks to
"cocktail" treatment, and a US AIDS patient who received the treatment in 1995
is still alive, said Ho.
"That's the best performance for my treatment," said Ho, who was hired on
Friday as adviser to the National Institute of Biological Science in Beijing.
He also said the second human ADIS vaccine test is going to take place in
Beijing after his research team conducted the first in New York last November.
He said China will be more intensively involved in co-operation in AIDS
treatment and vaccine development with his organization.
"What is most needed (by HIV Positive individuals in China) is treatment,"
said Ho, director and CEO of the Aaron Diamond Centre based in New York.
He and his team are now in Yunnan Province to provide "cocktail" treatment to
patients.
Ho said he expects the study will serve as a model for large-scale AIDS
treatment in other Chinese provinces and also help raise public awareness with
regard to the need for AIDS treatment in China.
"This would be viewed as the first step," he said, describing the fight
against HIV/AIDS in China as a long road.
He also said the price of AIDS drugs has already made it possible for some
patients to receive such treatment. Recent statistics indicated that US patients
can spend about US$130 on the treatment.
"The figure is huge for an African patient but may be affordable for some
Chinese," said Ho, adding that the treatment is currently the most effective way
to control the illness and prolong the lives of the patients.
At Friday's meeting with the media, Yang Xiangzhong, a Chinese cloning expert
based at the University of Connecticut, suggested that the Chinese Government
should form a special team to conduct cloning research, which can be used to
treat diseases.
"China is competitive in cloning technology; I'm strongly against human
cloning, except for research in therapy," said Yang, who was famous for cloning
sheep and cows.
"I personally believe China can lead the world in this regard in five to ten
years if some encouraging steps are taken."
