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Monday, 27th November 2006 (1944 views)

Eight major mining firms have agreed to fund the trial of HIV vaccines in South Africa, according to an Australian-based biopharmaceutical development company.

Virax Holdings has confirmed that it plans to conduct a trial of a HIV vaccine in 2007 and has already received financial backing for a number of international mining companies including BHP Billiton, Gold Fields, Harmony Gold Mining, Lonmin, Mitsubishi Materials Corp, Nippon Mining & Metals, Rio Tinto and Sumitomo Metal Mining.

Although the total provision of funds provided by the mining companies has not been confirmed, it is expected that the trial will cost between $5 million and $6 million to complete.

Around one in nine of South Africa's population are now though to be infected with HIV and the mining industry in particular has been hit by the disease's impact on its workforce.

Virax spokesman Tim Duncan explained the growing involvement of the mining industry in initiatives aimed at reducing infection rates and added: "Part of it is general social responsibility, but a lot of it is actually driven by the fact they need solutions for their work forces."

 

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