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Advocacy has played an incredible role in the fight against HIV/AIDS, especially early on when it was believed that AIDS only affected small groups of minorities and little was known about the disease itself. It was because of community advocacy that public attention and eventually resources were allocated to address the growing HIV/AIDS pandemic and its effects on everyone.
Advocacy has an even greater role to play in the development of vaccines for HIV/AIDS because unlike treatments, there is limited market incentive for private industries to invest in vaccine research. Vaccine research is an expensive and risky business with limited potential for generating income, especially given the ethical imperative to make an AIDS vaccine accessible and affordable to all. Also, the very process of developing an AIDS vaccine raises a variety of ethical and human rights issues that will require advocacy.
The development of AIDS vaccines has proven particularly difficult and will likely require many years of research with several unsuccessful experimental products along the way. Advocacy will be critical to keep governments, trial sponsors, researchers and communities engaged and supportive of vaccine development over the long haul. A successful advocacy strategy for AIDS vaccines will require a coordinated, concerted effort over the coming years - this will depend on clearly defined roles, responsibilities, resources and mechanisms for accountability. It will also require broad public understanding and support.
While it is important that the public and communities are aware of efforts to develop vaccines and the potential public health benefit, simply providing information is not enough. Many communities are tired of hearing about HIV/AIDS and new, creative strategies must be developed to ensure the AIDS vaccine research agenda is part of a comprehensive response to the pandemic. New coalitions, partnerships and networks that work more effectively and efficiently on the ground need to be developed.
As community advocates we need to look at the broad process of vaccine development and mechanisms for access to a newly licensed vaccine. Vaccine preparedness encompasses public understanding of these issues, and public support and participation. Community advocates, especially from developing countries - where much of the vaccine research will need to be conducted - must become an active part of the vaccine advocacy effort. This is to ensure their priorities and needs are met as they contribute to the development of AIDS vaccines.
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