SAAVI news releases
18 May 2004

World AIDS Vaccine Awareness Day

Background Information
AIDS Vaccine Awareness Day is celebrated annually on 18 May. Seven years ago on 18 May 1997 former US President Bill Clinton challenged scientists to make the development of a vaccine to prevent HIV infection "the 21 st century's first great triumph".

The theme of the seventh AIDS Vaccine Awareness Day is "Real people, real progress". It aims to educate people about the need for effective HIV/AIDS vaccines; highlight the advances made; underscore why a vaccine offers the best hope for controlling the AIDS pandemic; as well as to thank volunteers, participants and researchers for their dedication to and involvement in the search for an HIV/AIDS vaccine.

In commemoration of the day, the US National Institutes of Health calls on people to wear their AIDS red ribbon "with a twist" - upside down to symbolise a 'V' for 'vaccines' and the 'vision' of a world without AIDS.

SAAVI partner organisations will be holding events in various cities across the country - in particular, the four centres with vaccine clinical trial sites - Cape Town, Durban, Soweto and Orkney. For more information contact the SAAVI Vaccine Info-Line 080 VACCINE.

See also the SAAVI website for further information on progress in vaccine development in South Africa - http://www.saavi.org.za

Most of the international organisations involved in AIDS vaccine development including the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health, the HIV Vaccine Trials Network and the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition have posted information on their websites about World AIDS Vaccine Awareness Day. See, for example, http://www.iavi.org/wavd