Zimbabwe's first HIV vaccine trial

Zimbabwe will conduct its first ever HIV vaccine trial as part of efforts to curb the spread of HIV in February next year, officials have said.

The HIV trial comes at a time when the global community is doubling efforts to curb the epidemic which had claimed the lives of about 800 000 people by 2013 in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe's HIV prevalence stands at 15 percent, with 1, 4 million people living with the epidemic.

Lynda Stranix-Chibanda, a paediatrician at the University of Zimbabwe College Of Health Sciences said that the first trial would be carried out in Chitungwiza before spreading to other areas, including Bulawayo.