Toward a Pan-African HIV Vaccine Development Agenda

Introduction: Africa's centrality to the global HIV epidemic is well known. Less often discussed are the specific scientific, organizational and regulatory challenges of developing a safe and broadly effective HIV vaccine for the continent where such a tool is most needed. Discussion: New efforts are underway to develop vaccines that will address the extraordinary viral diversity that characterizes HIV on the African continent; advance more effective clinical trial designs; address regulatory barriers that slow scientific progress; and more effectively engage African researchers and institutions as full partners in the continent's HIV vaccine development and testing efforts. In this commentary, the authors summarize recommendations, grounded in these recent efforts, that have emerged from a series of meetings, most recently during the HIV Research for Prevention (HIVR4P) conference in October 2016.The recommendations include a four-pillar strategy, developed at the 2015 Kigali meeting of researchers, regulators, funders and advocates convened by The Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise in collaboration with key stake holders, to overcome the most pressing scientific and organizational roadblocks to developing effective HIV vaccines for Africa, as well as steps that have been taken since then. Conclusions: The ongoing efforts of this group, including this commentary, aim to bring new thinking to the fore in efforts to overcome longstanding obstacles to the development of effective HIV vaccines for Africa, and to ensure that no country or population is left behind in the search for an effective vaccine.