Overview
The urgency of the search for a vaccine against HIV stems from the AIDS-related death toll of over 25 million people since 1981. Indeed, in 2002, AIDS became the primary cause of mortality due to an infectious agent in Africa.
Alternative medical treatments to a vaccine do exist. Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has been highly beneficial to many HIV-infected individuals since its introduction in 1996 when the protease inhibitor-based HAART initially became available. HAART allows the stabilization of the patient’s symptoms and viremia, but they do not cure the patient of HIV, nor of the symptoms of AIDS. And, importantly, HAART does nothing to prevent the spread of HIV through people with undiagnosed HIV infections. Introduction of safer sex measures to halt the spread of AIDS has proven difficult in the worst affected countries.
Therefore, an HIV vaccine is generally considered as the most likely, and perhaps the only way by which the AIDS pandemic can be halted. However, after over 20 years of research, HIV-1 remains a difficult target for a vaccine.
Read more about this topic: HIV Vaccine