New Delhi, December 02: Clinical trials of the first Indian vaccine against the dreaded HIV virus will begin in January, 2005."The clinical trials on the first vaccine which is under development and is specific for HIV strains prevalent the country will begin in Jan," Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said here at a 'National Consultation on Nutritional Security in the Prevention, Management and Treatment of TB and HIV/AIDS', The country was also developing another vaccine against HIV, clinical trials of which were likely to begin in April next year, he said.

The country was getting a lot of support from international agencies such as UNAIDS, Global Fund to Fight HIV, TB and Malaria and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in its fight against the disease, the Minister said.

Regretting that awareness about HIV was very low in the country with 24 per cent of the population not having heard of HIV, Ramadoss said efforts were on to make the entire country aware of the virus and ways to prevent its transmission in six months' time.

"We are on track.

Entire population should have heard of HIV in the next six months," he said, adding a draft legislation to prevent discrimination against HIV-infected persons had also been prepared.

Ramadoss said that the tuberculosis programme would cover the entire country by April next year.

Currently 85 per cent of the population was covered.

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