Volunteers Key to Success of Thai Vaccine Trials

For six years, nearly 16,000 Thai housewives, factory workers, and laborers, among others, put aside their initial doubts and fears to participate in trials of an experimental AIDS vaccine. Their dedication paid off when American and Thai researchers announced the vaccine cut the risk of HIV infection by more than 31 percent -- an unexpected result that some thought impossible.

More than 90 percent of the volunteers remained in the study, despite false rumors that the vaccine contained HIV and that the US Army, which co-sponsored the trial with the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was using Thais as guinea pigs for a vaccine too dangerous to test in the United States. Some reported risking the loss of jobs or friends after word spread they were participating in the trials, which were held in Rayong and Chonburi provinces.

But for most volunteers, the reasons were altruistic: They wanted to do their part to end the epidemic. "I spoke to my parents and local doctors and thought about it for months," said Saichon Booncharoen, a volunteer who helped recruit other participants. "Eventually, I decided I wanted to do this to be a part of something bigger, something beyond myself."

"They looked on this as a patriotic thing," said Col. Jerome Kim, who helped lead the study for the US Army. "To us, it seemed quite a noble notion."

Health workers educated potential volunteers about the vaccine and HIV/AIDS, while researchers worked with communities to dispel rumors and misinformation. Study volunteers received house visits and regular phone calls, and they bonded during trips to the beach and planned activities.

"We are still doing volunteer work together, taking trips together, and going out together," said volunteer Tanad Yomaha.

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