South African HIV trial gets long-awaited go ahead

A clinical trial investigating ways to prevent newborns from contracting HIV through breast milk is set to proceed in South Africa, following a court judgement overruling the apparent reluctance of the country's drugs regulators to let the trial go ahead.

South Africa's Medicines Control Council (MCC) finally approved the trial last week (30 July) after a protracted battle between the MCC and paediatric HIV/AIDS researchers that ended in court.

The situation highlights problems in scaling up HIV/AIDS research in South Africa. The Sydney Declaration at the recent International AIDS Society conference in Australia (22–28 July) called for an increase in research in the developing world (see Scientists: Don't neglect HIV/AIDS research).
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