Responses to NIH-Specific Recommendations (Extracted from: America Living with AIDS)

NIH-RELEVANT RECOMMENDATIONS FROM
THE REPORT OF THE NATIONAL COMMISSION ON AIDS
PREVENTION AND EDUCATION
#2 Greater priority and funding should be given to behavioral,
social science, and health services research.
The NIH is currently drafting a 10-year plan for increasing
behavioral research; some aspects of this plan specifically
address behavioral research on AIDS, as the NIH recognizes
that behavioral research on HIV infection and AIDS is
critical to combatting the epidemic. In particular, basic
behavioral research aimed at identifying methods of
initiating and sustaining behavior change will provide
information that will form the basis for the design of AIDS
prevention programs. While the report states that
"behavioral, social science, and health services research
are currently grossly underfunded," it should be noted that
much of the behavioral research on AIDS conducted at the NIH
is conducted as part of studies of transmission, natural
history and nursing interventions, as such, would be
captured under other budget categories.
#6 Policies should be developed now to address future plans for
the distribution of AIDS vaccines and the ethical and
liability issues that will arise when vaccines become
available.
The NIH has recognized the importance of addressing these
issues and has been coordinating efforts to raise them for
discussion among the appropriate PHS agencies and private
industry, including pharmaceutical companies and the
Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Association. A recent meetingl
of the PHS AIDS Vaccine Research and Development Subgroup
was devoted to discussion of liability issues. In addition,
the NIH supported and participated in a 2-year roundtable on
liability issues organized by the Keystone Center which
culminated in a series of recommendations on alternatives to
the tort system for vaccine-related injury. Finally, the
NIH-sponsored International Conference on Advances in AIDSCL
Vaccine Development provides an annual opportunity to
collaboratively address these issues among federal
representatives, pharmaceutical concerns, and the WHO Global
Programme on AIDS (GPA).
On the international level, distribution and the attendant
ethical and liability issues will be coordinated by the GPA.
The GPA has met with international pharmaceutical concerns
in May and September 1991. The NIH is collaborating fully
with the GPA on vaccine issues through participation in the
Vaccine Steering Committee.