NEW DELHI. Nov 10: India, home to some five million carriers of the virus that leads to AIDS.-has finally agreed to stage vaccine trials and join global efforts for a cure, officials said on Monday, reports AFP.

India's National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) took the decision, which has to be formally ratified by the Indian Cabinet, after two days of talks with officials from the US National Institute of Health and the United Nations AIDS programme UNAIDS.

NACO chief JVR Prasad Rao said a oore group would be formed to work out details of the programme.

Rao said the Indian government had already accepted the need for an AIDS vaccine, adding: "We have the capability to develop it with international support."

Vulimiri Ramalingaswami, a leading backer of the proposal and a former chief of India's state-run medical research body, said the programme would "link Indian AIDS researchers with counterparts abroad to develop a flexible plan for producing candidate

vaccine and testing them."

The choice of vaccine — Indian or foreign — will be decided at the "right time" NACO's Rao said.

"We have to tread very carefully on this." Rao added.

India had refused international clinical trials nine years ago following domestic criticism that Indians could be used as guinea pigs by Western countries and multinational pharmaceutical companies.

World Health Organisation Director-General Gro Brundt-land had said in New Delhi earlier this year that as many as seven million Indian were carrying the Human Immuno-De-ficiency Virus (HIV). NACO chief Rao. however, puts the figure at around five million.

Most of the 16.000 new HIV infection gases registered every day worldwide are in developing countries.

More than 40 million people are expected to be infected with HIV by 2000.

A deeply conservative country. India has had problems addressing many of the issues linked to AIDS, such as intravenous drug use. homosexuality. prostitution and teenage sex.