ADVOCATES FOR YOUTH

Organizations Issue Joint Call for the Immediate Inclusion of Young People in HIV Vaccine Trials

Experts and Youth Agree—Young People Are Key to Ending the AIDS Epidemic 

WASHINGTON, DC (December 5, 2000) Citing the fact that half of all new HIV infections are in young people under the age of 25, Advocates for Youth and the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC) today challenge the scientific community to recognize the urgency of developing an HIV vaccine that can be administered to young people before they become sexually active.

"At a time when two American young people contract HIV every hour of every day, it is clear that adolescents are at the very center of the AIDS epidemic," said Debra Hauser, Vice President of Advocates for Youth. "If we are going to create a firewall against this disease, it has to start with young people."

Currently, only one HIV vaccine trial in the U.S. has reached Phase III—the last phase before application for FDA approval—AIDSVAX by VaxGen. Of the 5,000 trial participants, not a single participant is under 18 years old. Several government-sponsored HIV vaccine trials are in earlier trial stages - Phase I and Phase II. Of the 3,200 trial participants, only one has been under 18 year old.

"An effective vaccine that can be administered early in adolescence is essential to the eradication of this disease," said J. Lawrence Miller, Board Member of the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition. "We cannot afford to follow the usual path of vaccine development: multi-year trials in adults, followed by multi-year trials in young people, followed by multiple years to get a vaccine distributed. If we allow this course to continue, millions of young people will die before they ever reach middle age."

Advocates for Youth and AVAC are calling on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) to take immediate action to prepare for the inclusion of young people in all publicly and privately funded vaccine trials worldwide. The HVTN is responsible for government sponsored HIV trials and is funded by the NIH.

"Young people must be immediately included in HIV vaccine trials. Every day that we delay, another 48 young people in the United States contract HIV," said Hauser.

Specifically, the organizations are challenging the NIH to identify any scientific, legal, or procedural barriers to participation in trials by young people within the next 6 months and to work with scientists, policymakers, and community groups to overcome any barriers identified. Advocates for Youth and AVAC are also calling on the HVTN to include young people at every level in its community advisory boards, scientific committees, and protocol teams. The HVTN must create and fund a process that proactively includes young people in a community organizing effort for trial preparedness.

"The NIH and HVTN have a responsibility to provide young people with the best prevention tools and treatment interventions available. These groups must work together to ensure that young people have every opportunity to protect themselves and others from HIV infection," said Hauser.

Experts and public health advocates are not alone in their concerns. Young people themselves believe that they have a right to information and services to protect themselves from HIV infection. "I am one of one billion young people worldwide. The choices that we make now will determine the quality of life for generations to come. If policymakers truly want to achieve a world without AIDS, then they must begin now by seeing young people not just as part of the problem, but as the solution," said Mai Pham, 20 year old member of Advocates for Youth's International Youth Leadership Council.

Advocates for Youth and AVAC are urging policymakers to act now to include young people in HIV vaccine trials. "Young people must not be left behind. The government must move with urgency to put an end to the epidemic that has already claimed nearly 22 million lives worldwide," concluded Miller.

AVAC is a citizens' advocacy group with the mission to speed development of preventive HIV/AIDS vaccines. AVAC does this by analyzing obstacles to HIV vaccine development and advocating to overcome them.

Advocates for Youth is a national nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC that creates programs and supports policies that help young people make safe, responsible decisions about their sexual and reproductive health.

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Note to Editors and Producers: For more information or to set up an interview with HIV vaccine trial experts and participants, please contact Bill Barker at (202) 419-3420.

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