World AIDS Vaccine Day, also known as HIV Vaccine Awareness Day, is observed annually on May 18. HIV vaccine

HIV vaccine

An HIV vaccine that protects vaccinated individuals from HIV infection is the goal of many HIV research programmes. Currently, there is no effective vaccine against HIV, the virus that causes AIDS...

 advocates mark the day by promoting the continued urgent need for a vaccine

Vaccine

A vaccine is a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism, and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe or its toxins...

 to prevent HIV

HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...

 infection and AIDS

AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

. They acknowledge and thank the thousands of volunteers, community members, health professionals, supporters and scientists who are working together to find a safe and effective AIDS vaccine and urge the international community to recognize the importance of investing in new technologies as a critical element of a comprehensive response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The concept of World AIDS Vaccine Day is rooted in a May 18, 1997 commencement speech

Commencement speech

A commencement speech or commencement address is a speech given to graduating students, generally at a university, although the term is also used for secondary education institutions. The "commencement" is a ceremony in which degrees or diplomas are conferred upon graduating students...

 at Morgan State University

Morgan State University

Morgan State University, formerly Centenary Biblical Institute , Morgan College and Morgan State College , is a historically black college in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Morgan is Maryland's designated public urban university and the largest HBCU in the state of Maryland...

 made by then-President Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

. Clinton challenged the world to set new goals in the emerging age of science and technology and develop an AIDS vaccine within the next decade stating, “Only a truly effective, preventive HIV vaccine can limit and eventually eliminate the threat of AIDS.”

The first World AIDS Vaccine Day was observed on May 18, 1998 to commemorate the anniversary of Clinton’s speech, and the tradition continues today. Each year communities around the globe hold a variety of activities on World AIDS Vaccine Day to raise awareness for AIDS vaccines, educate communities about HIV prevention and research for an AIDS vaccine and bring attention to the ways in which ordinary people can be a part of the international effort to stem the pandemic.

See also

• HIV Vaccine Trials Network
  HIV Vaccine Trials Network
  The HIV Vaccine Trials Network is a non-profit organization which connects physicians and scientists with activists and community educators for the purpose of conducting clinical trials seeking a safe and effective HIV vaccine. Collaboratively, research professionals and laypeople review...
  
   (HVTN)
• International AIDS Vaccine Initiative
  International AIDS Vaccine Initiative
  The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative is a global not-for-profit, public-private partnership working to accelerate the development of vaccines to prevent HIV infection and AIDS. IAVI researches and develops vaccine candidates, conducts policy analyses, serves as an advocate for the field and...
  
   (IAVI)
• National Institutes of Health
  National Institutes of Health
  The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
  
   (NIH)
• Uganda Virus Research Institute
  Uganda Virus Research Institute
  The Uganda Virus Research Institute , located in Entebbe, Uganda, was established in 1936 as the Yellow Fever Research Institute by the Rockefeller Foundation. In 1950, after gaining regional recognition it was renamed the East African Virus Research institute...
  
   (UVRI)
• South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative
  South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative
  The South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative or SAAVI is a South African organization with the mission of coordinating the research and development of HIV vaccines in and for South Africa.-History:...
  
  (SAAVI)

External links

• Bill Clinton's commencement speech at Morgan State University
• AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC)
• AIDS Vaccine Clearinghouse
• Be the Generation
• The Dale and Betty Bumpers Vaccine Research Center (VRC)
• International AIDS Vaccine Initiative – India Website
• Kenya AIDS Vaccine Initiative (KAVI)
• The South Africa AIDS Vaccine Initiative (SAAVI)