KAMPALA, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Ugandan scientists have launched the third phase of HIV vaccine efficacy trials in the central district of Masaka, the country's ministry of health said here Wednesday.
Emmanuel Ainebyoona, spokesperson for the ministry, told Xinhua that the Medical Research Council, the Uganda Virus Research Institute and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine have enrolled the first two volunteers in the African-led PrEPVacc HIV vaccine efficacy trials to test two ways of HIV prevention and pre-exposure prophylaxis in humans.
"The HIV vaccine has reached its stage-three trials to establish whether the vaccine can protect an individual from HIV," said Ainebyoona.
"The trials, the first of their kind in Africa, are taking place in Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique and Africa," he added.
PrEPVacc HIV vaccine is an ongoing African-led, European-supported HIV prevention project in four countries in East and Southern Africa from 2018 to 2023.
According to the United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, the HIV epidemic remains a major public health threat in Uganda with an estimated 1.4 million people living with the virus. Enditem
