AIDS Vaccine May Be Tested on Thais

The world’s first mass test of a vaccine against the virus that causes AIDS may be held in Thailand, possibly as early as 2000, experts at an international AIDS congress said Monday.

They said tests would be voluntary and conducted among people most exposed to the danger of contracting AIDS, such as prostitutes and intravenous drug users.

“There’s a good possibility that the first vaccine efficacy trial ever conducted in the world will be conducted in Asia and specifically Thailand,” said Dr. Margaret Johnston, scientific director of the U.S.-based International AIDS Vaccine Initiative.

The private group of scientists and medical experts is trying to develop a vaccine that would immunize people against the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, which can lead to AIDS.

Johnston said it was hard to say exactly when such a mass trial could be carried out because initial tests on small groups--to find out how safe the vaccine is--have not been completed.

“But if everything is safe and everything works . . . the first efficacy trial could start in Thailand, perhaps in the year 2000,” she said. “The trial itself will take three or four years, so we could have a vaccine in 10 years.”