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Dr. J. Brooks Jackson
Dr. Jackson offered a summary of the 15th meeting of the OARAC. The focus of the meeting was research on HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean Basin, and whether NIH should help address their HIV-related needs. In developing reliable measures for monitoring the epidemic in these countries, it was felt there should be an emphasis on primary prevention. The four highest training needs are mother-to-child transmission, HIV risk behaviors, care and management of patients with HIV, and non-behavioral prevention, and they thought that the Fogarty International Center could be very helpful in these areas. They voiced the need for effective, inexpensive and accessible interventions, antiretroviral therapy in particular, especially if conducted within the context of clinical trials. They considered support and conduct of HIV vaccine trials to be a very high priority. Collaboration with NIH could help link researchers in the Caribbean to NIH-funded HIV research networks and vaccine trials, as well as lead to long-term research-related funding.
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