Ethical considerations in HIV preventive vaccine research

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) published a guidance document in May 2000 that highlights some of the critical ethical principles that ought to be considered when developing a HIV vaccine. It contains 18 guidance points that attempt to encompass all ethical facets of vaccine development, inevitably producing rather arid, verbose and politically correct statements.

However, the text itself offers some important and well-reasoned principles, such as:

‘Though HIV vaccines should benefit all those in need, it is imperative that they benefit the populations at greatest risk of infection. Thus, HIV vaccine development should ensure that the vaccines are appropriate for use among such populations, among which it will be necessary to conduct trials; and, when developed, they should made available and affordable to such populations.’

Therefore, the 48-page booklet is a valuable contribution to a debate on issues that will soon be a reality.