China approves human test of experimental Aids vaccine

China has approved human testing of a domestically developed Aids vaccine and pledged to speed up approvals of new drugs to fight the disease.

The first-stage test of the vaccine to determine its safety is to be carried out on 30 volunteers aged 18-50, it was reported today on state television. It said details of the test would be announced later.

The experimental vaccine was developed by Chinese scientists who have studied the genetics of the Aids virus since 1996, the Xinhua News Agency said, citing the State Food and Drug Administration.

Researchers injected the compound vaccine into a monkey and found no abnormal reactions occurred,” the report said.

The announcement came as China prepared to mark World Aids Day on Wednesday.

China says it has 840,000 people infected with the Aids virus and 80,000 with the full-blown disease.

But health experts say the true figures are much higher and warn that China could have 10 million people infected by 2010 unless it takes urgent action.

The communist government has become more open about its Aids epidemic after years of denying the disease was a problem, though Aids activists are still regularly detained and harassed.

State television quoted a spokesman for the drug agency as cautioning that the experimental vaccine would require lengthy testing.

“Experiments with this drug don’t necessarily mean the drug will be a success,” the spokesman said. “We do not expect that such vaccinations will be available to the public within a short time.”

In the world’s biggest study of an experimental Aids vaccine, Thai and US researchers have been testing a combination of two drugs on 16,000 Thai volunteers since 2003.

The State Food and Drug Administration also promised to “accelerate approval process of all kinds of anti-Aids drugs to help speed up relevant clinical researches,” Xinhua said.

Plans to distribute condoms at elite Peking University for World Aids Day were cancelled after school officials objected to carrying out the distribution in public.