Question NW565 to the Minister of Health

Reply:

Various scientific institutions and groups have been involved in the collaborative work on the cure for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). All scientists agree that finding a cure is far more complex because no one has ever been cured of HIV and AIDS and as such correlates of protection are not known. There is some other work towards a cure that include people who go on structured treatment interruption after receiving some intervention and South Africa is involved in these studies. There is also an investigation of the use of Indigenous Knowledge System (IKS) or products derived from indigenous plants that have antiviral activities and claims to cure HIV. There is, further, an on-going work that is designing appropriate studies to investigate many claims of cure for HIV and AIDS, which will probably be structured treatment interruption based.

In the meantime, South Africa has participated in various HIV vaccine efficacy studies such as Phambili, Uhambo, Imbokodo, and Antibody Mediated Prevention (AMP). The outcomes of these studies have found that the vaccines that were tried are not effective against the virus. These trials were critical to our endeavor to find an effective HIV vaccine, hence their findings have led us to pursue two alternative pathways:

• A programme of experimental HIV vaccine trials to improve immunogenicity using an approach to iteratively develop and improve both bnAb and T-cell targeting vaccines and that.
• The next (5) five years the country will be assessing the role of utilizing broadly neutralizing monoclonal antibodies as part of HIV prevention strategy.

We are also evaluating these vaccine approached in HIV exposed uninfected infants to try and prevent breastmilk transmission.

It is critical to collaborate with international partners because the costs of these trials are prohibitive.

While these efforts are ongoing, everyone must be mobilized to support the Antiretroviral programme which has demonstrated achievement in viral suppression when and where there is a strong adherence to treatment.

END.