WASHINGTON (Reuters Health) - In its last 100 days, the Clinton administration should take action to fund public-sector and private-sector HIV/AIDS vaccine research and development, the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) recommended in its final report, released Friday.

"At the dawn of the new millennium, there is no threat to the global community that demands more urgent leadership and response than HIV/AIDS," Ronald V. Dellums, the council's chair, and Daniel C. Montoya, the council's executive director, said in the preface to the report.

PACHA called on the administration to support the "highest possible funding increases for domestic and global HIV/AIDS programs." Such programs would include "full funding for the Global AIDS and Tuberculosis Relief Act and the CBC/Minority HIV/AIDS Initiative," the report said.

"We asked [the president] to continue discussions at the highest levels, like G-7," about the importance of funding HIV/AIDS programs, Montoya told Reuters Health shortly after meeting with the president. The US needs to play a leadership role in addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic, he added.

Other PACHA recommendations for the administration's last 100 days include supporting passage of legislation to expand Medicaid eligibility to individuals in early stages of HIV infection, backing legislation to enact tax credits to speed up vaccine development, working with Congress to reauthorize the Ryan White CARE Act this year, and developing an interagency plan to address HIV/AIDS and implementing other recommendations contained in a forthcoming White House Office of National AIDS Policy report.

"[The] final report...is a clarion call for US leadership," Dr. Seth Berkley, president and chief executive officer of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), said in a statement to the media. "We applaud PACHA for prioritizing vaccine development and for its strong call for the US government to join other governments in funding IAVI. We echo PACHA's call for expanded tax credits to encourage AIDS vaccine development and deployment."

Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Jennifer Dunn (R-Wash.) and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) have introduced the Vaccines for the New Millennium Act, which includes extending tax credits for HIV/AIDS vaccine development and other vaccine provisions in the council's report.

PACHA said that its report is also an "initial challenge to the next administration." The next president, the council said, should include work to enact policy reforms encouraging HIV vaccine development, including vaccine research tax credits; support efforts to provide debt relief to developing nations so they can better fight HIV/AIDS; urge the pharmaceutical industry to minimize the cost of HIV/AIDS treatment; and develop a 5-year plan for increasing funding for substance abuse and mental health services.
　　(From Reuters Health)