The Nairobi Declaration - An African Appeal for an AIDS Vaccine

Nairobi, 14 June 2000

We, the participants gathered in Nairobi, Kenya from 12 to 14 June 2000, on the occasion of a consultation organized under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Society on AIDS in Africa (SAA) and the African Council of AIDS Service Organization (AfriCASO) to discuss ways to accelerate the development and future availability of HIV vaccines for Africa,

Recognize the gravity and adverse impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and its role as the leading cause of illness and death on the African continent.

Are aware that two-thirds of the estimated 34 million people with HIV/AIDS in the world today live in Africa and that the spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa has continued largely unabated despite numerous interventions.

Are concerned that the impact of HIV/AIDS is arresting or reversing the important political and socioeconomic gains of the past decades in the fields of health, education, agriculture and other sectors in Africa.

Are convinced that an effective HIV vaccine offers the best long-term hope to control the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Are desirous of contributing to the global effort to develop a safe, effective and affordable HIV vaccine(s) consistent with the principle of an international public good that benefits all human kind.

Are determined to harness the current initiatives of vaccine development and research in the industrialized countries towards accelerating African efforts to identify a suitable and appropriate HIV vaccine for the continent.

Acknowledge that HIV vaccine development efforts are already under way in a few African countries, at different levels of advancement and development. These efforts need to be promoted, strengthened and enhanced.

Are committed to ensuring the full participation of, and fostering partnership with, communities and civil society in the conduct of HIV vaccine trials/research conducted and anchored to the highest scientific and ethical standards.

Recall that a number of declarations designed to accelerate the HIV/AIDS response, including vaccine development in Africa, have already been made which include inter alia the Dakar Declaration of 1992; the communiquf the G8 Heads of State and Government in Cologne of 1999; the SADC Health Ministers meeting in Johannesburg of November 1999; the meeting of Ministers of Health of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in Ouagadougou in May 2000; the resolution of the World Health Assembly in May 2000; the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board meeting of May 2000; and the United States-European Union Summit in Lisbon of May 2000.

We the Participants therefore:

Pledge to use our personal and collective commitment and expertise in the development and implementation of the African Strategy for an HIV vaccine.

Commit ourselves to assist and actively participate in efforts to mobilize national, regional and international human, financial and material resources for the furtherance of the African Strategy for an HIV Vaccine.

Urge African Heads of State and Government, civil society, regional and political bodies (such as the OAU, SADC, ECOWAS, AfriCASO, ADB, COMESA, NAP, African I on Law, Ethics and HIV/AIDS) and the media, to promote, accelerate and strengthen their individual and collective efforts towards advocating and directing resources in support of the African Strategy for an HIV Vaccine.

Appeal to African HIV/AIDS scientists to develop and strengthen existing regional networks for AIDS research consistent with the need to facilitate exchange of information and experience relative to various aspects of HIV vaccine research. In addition, mechanisms to promote the development of appropriate candidate vaccines and to conduct scientifically and ethically sound clinical trials must be developed.

Urge that industrialized countries and international HIV/AIDS aid and research agencies scale up their technical and financial support to HIV vaccine development efforts for Africa, commensurate with the magnitude and urgency of the HIV/AIDS crisis on the African continent, paying particular attention to the variability of the HIV strains between different regions of the world.

Urge the UN system, WHO, UNAIDS and its cosponsors, the EU, multilateral and bilateral agencies, IAVI, international NGOs, foundations and the pharmaceutical industry to engage in and strengthen their advocacy and support for vaccine initiatives in and for Africa within the context of the evolving International Partnership Against AIDS in Africa (IPAA); to expand their technical, logistical and financial support to HIV vaccine research and development in Africa, facilitating the exchange of information between and among scientists globally and in the African Region; to work towards making future vaccines available in the light of developments in the area of antiretroviral (ARV) drug pricing; and to include HIV vaccine activities for Africa among the priority of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI).

Urge WHO-UNAIDS, in consultation with scientists in Africa, to establish mechanisms for translating the African Strategy for an HIV Vaccine into tangible and deliverable outputs as a matter of priority and urgency.

Participants - Nairobi, 14 June 2000

Abdool Karim, Quarraisha, Southern Africa Fogarty, Durban, South Africa

Abimiku, Alash'le, Assistant Professor, Institute of Human Virology, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Anzala, Omu, Programme Manager, Kenya AIDS Vaccine Initiative (KAVI), Nairobi, Kenya

Balfour, Thuthula, Director, SADC Health Sector Coordination Unit, Pretoria, South Africa

Benslimane, Abdellah, Director, Institut Pasteur, Casablanca, Morocco

Bokete, Theresa, Chief Laboratory Scientist/Microbiologist, Ministry of Health, Gaborone, Botswana

Bwayo, JJ., Chairman, Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya

Corrah, Tumany, Director, Clinical Services, Medical Research Council, Banjul, Gambia

Esparza, JosCoordinator, WHO-UNAIDS HIV Vaccine Initiative, Geneva, Switzerland

Gomo, E., Senior Medical Research Officer, Blair Research Laboratory, Ministry of Health, Harare, Zimbabwe

Idoko, J.A., Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Jos Teaching Hospital, Jos, Nigeria

Karita, Etienne, Director, National Reference Laboratory, Ministry of Health, Kigali, Rwanda

Koumare, Brehima, WHO West African Bloc, Abidjan, Cote d'lvoire

Kumwenda, Newton, College of Medicine, Blantyre, Malawi

Lie, Reidar, Department of Philosophy, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

Makgoba, William Malegapuro, President, Medical Research Council, Tygerberg, South Africa

Makinwa, Bunmi, Communications Adviser, UNAIDS, Geneva, Switzerland

Mbidde, Edward, Director, Uganda Cancer Institute, Kampala, Uganda

Mhalu, Fred, Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences, Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania

Mugerwa, Roy, Professor, Department of Medicine, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

Mukasa Monico, Sophia, Chief Executive Officer, The AIDS Support Organization (TASO), Kampala, Uganda

Musonda, Rosemary, Principal Scientific Officer, Tropical Disease Research Centre (TDRC), Ndola, Zambia

Mwalloh, James, National AIDS Control Council, Nairobi, Kenya

Naamara, Warren, UNAIDS Country Programme Adviser, Nairobi, Kenya

Ndumbe, Peter, Dean, Faculty of Medicine, University of YaoundYaoundCameroon (unable to attend, sent written comments)

Nkengasong, John, Project RETRO-CI, Abidjan, Cote d'lvoire (unable to attend, sent written comments)

Owili, Malaki, Secretary General, Society for AIDS in Africa, Nairobi, Kenya

Owour, Otula P, Communications Consultant, Nairobi, Kenya

Pinto Andrade, Anna, Microbiologist, Public Health Institute, Luanda, Angola

Prozesky, Walter, Executive Secretary, South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative (SAAVI), Medical Research Council, Tygerberg, South Africa

Rubaramira, Ruranga, Coordinator, NGENY, Kampala, Uganda

Sichone, Moses, Public Health/National AIDS Manager, Central Board of Health, Ministry of Health, Lusaka, Zambia

Siwale, Margaret, Coordinator, Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission, Lusaka, Zambia

Soyinka, Femi, Professor and Chair, Department of Dermatology and Venereology, College of Health Sciences, lle-lfe, Nigeria

Tangeni, Angula K., Director, Tertiary Health and Clinical Support Services, Ministry of Health and Social Services, Windhoek, Namibia

Tekena, Harry, Research Director, Department of Immunology, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria

TourCoumba, WHO-UNAIDS HIV Vaccine Initiative, Geneva, Switzerland

Trenton-Mbonde, Angela, UNAIDS Country Programme Adviser, Lilongwe, Malawi

Wambebe, Charles, Director General-Chief Executive, National Institutes for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, Abuja, Nigeria

Williamson, Carolyn, Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Cape Town Medical School, Cape Town, South Africa