Clinical Need
According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 40 million people worldwide are living with HIV infections, nearly all of whom are expected to experience life-threatening HIV-related complications within the next two decades. Although advances in prevention, diagnosis and treatment have helped to improve and extend the lives of many HIV-positive individuals, the worldwide incidence of HIV/AIDS continued to rise in 2004. The problem is most acute in developing nations where access to anti-retroviral drugs is limited. For example, most countries in sub-Saharan Africa have limited healthcare and fiscal resources to diagnose and treat the more than 25 million HIV-positive people who live in the region. Cases of HIV/AIDS are also increasing in most developed nations as well, even when access to diagnosis and treatment is more readily available. Clearly, a safe and effective HIV/AIDS vaccine is essential in developing a strategy to slow the growth of the pandemic.
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