September 12, 2012
For immediate release
Boston, Massachusetts – Government of Canada delegates joined researchers, clinicians, private sector partners and public health experts in Boston, September 9-12, 2012, to work towards advancing HIV vaccine science at the AIDS Vaccine 2012 conference, the largest and most diverse meeting of its kind.
“Developing a globally accessible HIV vaccine is a priority for our government,” said federal Health Minister, Leona Aglukkaq. “These conferences create opportunities to share knowledge and experience, which are invaluable in our efforts to discover a vaccine that will ultimately end the pandemic.”
Canada’s participation at the international AIDS Vaccine conference comes less than two months after Canada helped champion efforts to elevate the issue of AIDS in Aboriginal communities to the main session of the International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C.
The Government of Canada, through the Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative (CHVI), has been providing funding to the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise to organize the conference since 2009.
The CHVI is a multi-year partnership between the Government of Canada and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, aimed at accelerating the development of an HIV vaccine. Since its inception in 2007, the CHVI has worked to promote greater collaboration between researchers in Canada and in low and middle income countries, particularly Africa, and has made progress in enhancing global capacity for clinical trials. It has also assisted in strengthening policy approaches that promote access to HIV vaccines globally.
In addition to providing funding for the AIDS Vaccine 2012 conference, the CHVI hosted a satellite session on the vaccine development process from a researcher’s perspective. Participants discussed integrating basic, clinical and social sciences throughout the vaccine discovery and development process and efforts to improve laboratory and regulatory capacity building in low and middle income countries, among other topics.
Visit AIDS Vaccine 2012 
for more information on the conference.
Visit Canadian HIV/AIDS Vaccine Initiate for more information on CHVI.
