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Partners For Change: AIDS

If we fail to commit our hearts and resources now to fighting AIDS, we will pay a far greater price in the future, both in deaths and in dollars.

The fight against AIDS is being waged internationally. Every resource committed to this effort must be exploited. Israel has long been a pioneer in medical research and has been responsible for numerous breakthroughs. Though the incidence of AIDS in Israel is extremely rare, researchers are actively working to find new treatments, diagnostic tools and, it is hoped, a cure for this devastating disease. Israel has already made a contribution by:

  • Developing Hypericin, a drug whose antiviral properties were documented at the Weizmann Institute. Vimrxyn, a hypericin-based drug is now being tested for the treatment of AIDS under sponsorship by the National Institutes of Health.
  • Making progress on a new type of artificial blood that could potentially help slow the spread of the AIDS virus.
  • An Israeli-American firm, Pharmos/Pharmatec, developing an improved method for delivering AZT to the brain.
  • Hebrew University researchers developing what they believe is a means to help AIDS patients overcome serious infections and neurological problems.

The National Institutes of Health look for the best researchers in the world to conduct studies on AIDS and other health issues. Not surprisingly, Israeli doctors and scientists have been among the most frequent foreign recipients of grants.

  • NIH is currently funding an Israeli research project on infections associated with AIDS.