title: FHI to oversee AIDS vaccine trials.
abstract: Family Health International has been selected for a five-year contract to manage clinical trials work in developing countries for promising experimental AIDS vaccines.  The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a U.S. government agency, awarded the contract in October, 1 of 2 master contracts to evaluate preventive vaccines. "The AIDS pandemic has caused untold human suffering and loss to families worldwide," says Dr. Theodore M. King, FHI's president and chief operating officer.  "An estimated 14 million adults and children are currently infected with this terrible illness and that number may reach 40 million people by the end of this decade."  No drug is available to prevent transmission of HIV, which causes AIDS, and few are available for treatment.  "New and more effective strategies, such as vaccines and other biomedical interventions targeted at prevention, are essential for curtailing this devastating pandemic," Dr. King says.  New preventive vaccines will be developed by private industry or public institutions, and NIH will select candidate vaccines or other biomedical methods for testing based on recommendations by an independent advisory group. Another NIH contract, awarded to Abt Associates, Inc. of Cambridge, MA, US will oversee clinical trials in the US and its territories.
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; D000569:Americas; D019049:Developed Countries; D003906:Developing Countries; D004194:Disease; D004467:Economics; D005376:Financial Management; D005381:Financing, Organized; D015658:HIV Infections; D009656:North America; D012106:Research; D013672:Technology; D014481:United States; D014612:Vaccines; D014777:Virus Diseases
chemical_list: D014612:Vaccines
keywords: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome--prevention and control; Americas; Developed Countries; Developing Countries; Diseases; Economic Factors; Financial Activities; Grants; Hiv Infections--prevention and control; North America; Northern America; Research And Development; Technology; United States; Vaccines; Viral Diseases