CHINA'S AIDS VACCINE TRIAL PROCEEDING

Forty-nine volunteers have been injected in a trial of China's first HIV/AIDS vaccine, the country's Ministry of Health has reported. All are in good health and have shown no negative side-effects, researchers have reported. The first phase of the test was launched in March 2005 in Nanning, and the last phase is expected to be completed by June of this year.

A panel of experts will soon assess the trial results and decide whether to carry out the second phase of the vaccine test, said Chen Jie, deputy head of the Disease Control Center in Guangxi Zhuang. The assessment will cover the dose and safety of the AIDS vaccine, immunization procedures and whether the safety of the experiment accords with the targets for clinical research set by the state, and whether the experiment was carried out in a strict manner, Chen said.