By Janet Nyamwamu
A new regional advocacy series on HIV vaccine development has warned that Africa risks losing decades of scientific progress, infrastructure, and public trust if it does not urgently reinforce and lead its own HIV vaccine research agenda.
The alarm was raised during the first session of a four-part virtual series titled New Horizons for HIV Vaccine R&D, convened by the International AIDS Society (IAS) and IAVI.
The discussion brought together top scientists, policy experts, and community voices from across the continent to evaluate the future of HIV vaccine science amid growing global funding uncertainties.
Experts opened the session by highlighting how delays in reauthorizing PEPFAR, tightening U.S. NIH budgets, and shifting donor priorities have already begun to destabilize key vaccine and HIV prevention programs.
Dr. Nigel Garrett of the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation revealed that the U.S.-funded Brilliant Consortium — one of Africa’s leading HIV vaccine initiatives — received its termination notice in January 2025, just as it was preparing to vaccinate its first participant.
The abrupt cut forced scientists to suspend operations, lay off staff, and urgently seek new grants.
“This was catastrophic,” Garrett said, noting that many trial sites in South Africa and neighbouring regions have already lost vital HIV testing and PrEP capacity.
He warned that HIV incidence could rebound if these clinical services continue collapsing.
Dr. Marianne Mureithi, Director of the Kenya AIDS Vaccine Initiative (KAVI-ICR), described 2025 as the year “global politics threatened local lives.”
She recalled how sudden funding freezes disrupted clinical trials, halted community programs, and sparked public panic.
Mureithi said Kenyan scientists, policymakers, and communities had since regrouped to restore trust and restructure research by integrating HIV science with broader infectious disease, cancer, climate-health, and AI-driven initiatives.
“We must never again allow global shocks to determine whether African science lives or dies,” she said, urging stronger national investment, local manufacturing capacity, and youth-driven community engagement.
Dr. Tariro Makadzange, founder and CEO of the Africa Clinical Research Network (ACRN), argued that despite the crisis, Africa’s research capacity is more robust than ever and ready for transformation.
She noted that Africa conducts only 3% of global clinical trials yet carries 25% of the global disease burden.
ACRN now aims to raise Africa’s share of trials to 15% within the next decade through a unified, Africa-led research ecosystem.
Makadzange said the continent now boasts world-class laboratories, highly trained scientists, and deeply rooted community engagement systems, but cautioned that losing momentum could reverse decades of trust-building.
She called for domestic financing, regional regulatory harmonisation, data-sharing networks, and stronger partnerships with African biotech and pharmaceutical industries.
Community advocate Tian Johnson stressed that beyond science and infrastructure, Africa risks losing something far more fragile: public trust in research.
“For decades we fought misinformation and the legacy of exploitation. Communities finally began to trust science because we brought the human faces of African scientists to the forefront,” Johnson said.
“If we abandon this work, that trust evaporates.”
Zimbabwean MP Fortune Daniel Molokela, who chairs the Pan-African Parliamentary Task Force on Domestic Health Financing, said African governments must now view research funding as a strategic investment rather than a donor-dependent expense.
“We cannot continue outsourcing our survival,” he said.
“Health security is national security.”
The speakers were unanimous that Africa must take charge of the next chapter of HIV vaccine research.
Experts called for coordinated advocacy, sustainable financing, and renewed commitment to African-led innovation.