Our Work in Mali
Because you can’t distribute an HIV vaccine in a vacuum, GAIA is building the infrastructure that will be needed to deliver our HIV vaccine. This includes instruction on how to administer a vaccine, provision of safe delivery devices and supporting a network of distribution points.
Why is GAIA Vaccine Foundation involved in clinical care in Mali and West Africa?
Africa is home to the highest number of people living with AIDS and is the epicenter of the global epidemic. GAIA VF is involved in setting up a field trial site for the GAIA (not for profit, globally relevant) HIV vaccine. In the meantime, GAIA VF has established a “Prevention Now!” campaign in Mali. GAIA VF believes that active, ongoing collaboration with West African physicians and support for clinical activities in the region will improve the health of West African children and their parents, and foster the development of the type of regional knowledge base and level of care that is needed to pursue ethical implementation of HIV care and future HIV vaccine trials in the region.
HIV Prevalence in Mali
The HIV prevalence rate in Mali is 1.9% among adults and at between 170,000 to 400,000 people are living with HIV (including more than 70,000 women). To place the epidemic in perspective, there are almost as many PLWH/A in Mali, a country that is less than two times the size of Texas, as there are in the continental USA. The last HIV survey was performed in 2001 and there is reason to believe that the epidemic is beginning to accelerate: HIV prevalence rates of 5% have been described in prenatal clinics in Bamako and Segou and confirmed in GAIA VF’s clinic in Sikoro. HIV treatment is available: in April 2005, the Global Fund awarded $23,483,234 to the Malian government’s Haut Conseil pour la Lutte Contre le SIDA (HCNLS) for the coordination of HIV prevention and treatment efforts.
Limited access to HIV care
Despite the recent expansion of access to HIV medications in Mali thanks to the Global Fund award, access to the lifesaving medications is limited. HIV-infected individuals must find a clinic (only 4 ‘Centres de Soin” exist) and pay for clinical tests and for treatment for opportunistic infections, which are not provided by the government. The number of “dispensers” who are allowed to prescribe HIV medications is limited (less than 40) and concentrated in Bamako, the capital city. Experienced HIV providers are isolated in academic centers within Bamako, leaving large numbers of HIV infected individuals in the capital city and rural countryside without care. Furthermore, HIV care and risk reduction efforts are hampered by a severe lack of successful management models, vehicles for the exchange of expertise, defined standards of care, and effective treatment algorithms. As a result of the concentration of Malian HIV expertise in these centers, of the estimated 800,000 Malians who are in need of life-saving ARVs, as of January 2007, only 8,000 are currently receiving treatment.