Analyses of results of a trial of

a failedHIVvaccine have prompted some

prominent scientists to urge the National

Institutes of Health (NIH) to retreat

from testing candidate vaccines of

questionable value and to return to the

laboratory to develop new approaches.

Whether or not the agency will move

to scale back vaccine trials, scientists

agree that with no prospect of an effective

vaccine to curb the HIV/AIDS pandemic

in the foreseeable future, expanding

the repertoire of prevention tools is

all the more important. New findings

from studies of varying prevention strategies,

including male circumcision and

the use of antiretroviral drugs to curb

HIV transmission during breastfeeding

by mothers in resource-poor settings,

were presented here at the 15th Conference

on Retroviruses and Opportunistic

Infections.