NO side effects have been reported by volunteers testing out the Cuban candidate vaccine against AIDS, it was reported in August.
Participants at the international AIDS conference, "Sexuality and AIDS in Cuba, Latin America and the Caribbean," held at Havana's Institute of Tropical Medicine were told that volunteers were now receiving their third dose of the vaccine without any adverse reactions being reported.
Two of the volunteers and the main researchers of the AIDS vaccine project, doctors Carlos Fuentes and Felipe Rolo, said the initial stage of the study will extend for four years. The clinical stage on humans began in November 1996.
Three hundred scientists, HIV carriers and AIDS patients from more than 20 countries attended the conference.
Statistics released at the conference show that since 1986, 1,681 Cubans have contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Of those, 610 have developed full-blown AIDS and 442 have died. While these are the lowest figures in the Caribbean, the number of HIV-positive Cubans increased dramatically from 1995 to 1996, leading to a massive Government awareness campaign aimed at prevention.
The international medical group Doctors Without Borders distributed condoms and AIDS educational materials around the island.
Despite the lack of resources, Dr Jorge Pérez of the Santiago de las Vegas AIDS sanatorium insisted, "The epidemic is still under control."