This overview is designed to provide a summary of the major legal and ethical issues related to the development and delivery of an HIV vaccine in Canada. The main target audience is people working in community-based HIV/AIDS organizations. Secondary target audiences are researchers working on HIV vaccines and government officials working in HIV/AIDS.
The overview deals with HIV vaccines in Canada, but many of the issues it raises also apply to other developed countries, and some of them will resonate with people working on vaccine issues in developing countries. It focuses primarily on HIV preventive vaccines; however, the issues with respect to therapeutic vaccines are very similar.