音频下载[点击右键另存为]In a major scientific breakthrough researchers in Thailand say they have made progress in developing a vaccine for AIDS. A six-year trial working with volunteers showed that a combination of drugs reduced the risk of HIV infection.
More than 16,000 Thai men and women took part in the clinical trial of a vaccine to prevent HIV infection and lower the amount of the virus in the blood stream.
The trial, the largest the world has seen for an AIDS vaccine, showed a combination of existing drugs reduced the risk of HIV infection by more than 30 percent. It is the first vaccine to reduce infections.
Dr. Supachai Rerks-Ngarm of Thailand's Ministry of Public Health says the results are a scientifically credible breakthrough.
He says among the volunteers, 74 who received placebos became infected with HIV compared with 51 taking the vaccine.
Researchers from the U.S. Army, which sponsored the trial, says a combination of two drugs lowered the rate of HIV infection, an outcome scientists call a significant step forward in the search for a vaccine.
The U.S. Ambassador to Thailand, Eric John, said it raises hopes that drug combinations could be effective as a vaccine in the future.
"It affirms the concept that
