Effectuating Change in the Regulation of HIV Vaccines

Download or read book Effectuating Change in the Regulation of HIV Vaccines written by Scott Engstrom and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: HIV has been at the forefront in politics, medicine, and law since its discovery in 1981. Over thirty years have passed since the virus began a wave of fear made worse by a sensationalist media. Though much of the uproar has dulled, the lasting effects on the American Psyche have remained as the AIDS death toll has risen. Although the medical community has made significant progress in managing the infection through complex drug cocktails, prevention remains the most effective tool in the fight against AIDS. However, the old aphorism “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” has been difficult to effectuate because the medical community has been unable to successfully navigate the current regime regulating vaccines. This note has three goals: first, and perhaps most importantly, to describe the gauntlet that vaccines must go through to receive approval by the Food and Drug Administration; second, to point out deficiencies in the current regulatory regime that have delayed successful development of an HIV vaccine; and third, I will make brief suggestions for improvement that could turn red tape into a bandage in the form of a cure.