Canada will play a major role in the development of an HIV/AIDS vaccine, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Tuesday, but he denied speculation that his good-news announcement was made in anticipation of a spring election.

Billionaire Bill Gates shakes hands with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa on Tuesday.
(Tom Hanson/Canadian Press)

Harper, flanked by billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates in Ottawa, said a new facility to manufacture and test vaccines will be set up in Canada.

Ottawa will contribute up to $111 million toward the Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative, while the Microsoft founder, through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will donate up to $28 million.

Harper and Gates signed the agreement during a news conference on Parliament Hill. Moments later, Harper denied rumours that an election is looming.

"I don't think Canadians want an election. I'm in no hurry to have an election. I simply want to see us move forward," he said, while answering reporters' questions.

Gates sidestepped a question about whether he believed Harper, who didn't attend the 2006 International AIDS Conference in Toronto, was making the announcement in a bid for support from voters.

"I'm glad to hear that putting research money into AIDS makes people politically more popular," Gates said, drawing laughter from those at the news conference.

The AIDS announcement came the same day as Harper's Conservative government pegged March 19 as the date for the federal budget.

HIV/AIDS a 'heart-wrenching' health crisis

The HIV/AIDS initiative will accelerate the pace toward finding a vaccine to fight the virus that causes AIDS, and move possible vaccines to the clinical trial stage more quickly, Harper said.

"HIV/AIDS is one of the most heart-wrenching health crises the world has ever seen," Harper said. "It is one of the greatest scientific challenges of our time."

"AIDS is a very tough problem. The long-term solution is a vaccine," Gates said.

As co-chair of the 2006 AIDS conference, Dr. Mark Wainberg of the McGill University AIDS Centre criticized Harper's decision to turn down an invitation to the conference. But Wainberg said Tuesday's announcement suggests the prime minister has learned how important HIV is from a global perspective.

The HIV vaccine funding will go toward research, testing, trials, manufacturing and distribution, said Health Minister Tony Clement, adding that Canada will shepherd the international collaboration.

The announcement drew mixed reactions from groups working with people with HIV/AIDS.

It's unclear whether an HIV vaccine is achievable, but the research is needed to help stop the spread of the virus, said Réjean Thomas, director of Actuel, an HIV/AIDS clinic in Montreal.

"Many young people think that the vaccine already exists," Thomas said. "You have to continue at the same time doing education, doing prevention."

Efforts aim to prevent AIDS

Gates, who is worth about $50 billion US, is the world's richest man. He has endowed the foundation, named after himself and his wife, with $24 billion US to support global health, library and education initiatives, including work to reduce the incidence of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

Gates expects an AIDS vaccine will be developed in his lifetime, he told the CBC's Peter Mansbridge last week.

Roughly 65 million people around the world have been diagnosed with AIDS since it was identified in 1981. The United Nations estimates close to three million people died from the disease in 2006.

With files from the Canadian Press