'VACCINES usually are developed by private pharmaceutical companies, but Baltimore said the problems and expense of developing an HIV vaccine make the traditional ways impractical.

"The pharmaceutical industry is involved, but not with the intensity that we would like,'' he said. ``There are only a few companies that have put out an intense effort. I think part of the reason is that it is not seen as a potentially profitable enterprise.''

A crash program to develop and test an AIDS vaccine, the experts said, could cost billions of dollars and take five to 10 years.

But it is an effort that humanity cannot ignore, said the experts. AIDS now kills more people than any other infectious disease. By 2010, it's estimated there will be 45 million new infections. HIV kills people in the prime of life, causing a severe impact on a nation's economy and leaving behind millions of orphaned children.

The entire continent of Africa has been crippled by AIDS, said Baltimore, and the disease is now becoming a major health threat in Asia.

"AIDS has decimated Africa and if it spreads to the same percentage of people in India or China, it will decimate those countries,'' he said.' A.P.

The invisible hand of the free market has its limits. Radical "evil" takes radical means to combat.