World AIDS Vaccine Day, also known by its other name, HIV Vaccine Awareness Day, is observed annually on May 18 to promote awareness about the urgent need for a vaccine to prevent HIV infections and AIDS.

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History:

World AIDS Vaccine Day was first conceptualized on May 18, 1997 by then-US President Bill Clinton in a commencement speech at the Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland.

Acknowledging the difficulty in finding a vaccine for HIV, Clinton referred to President John F Kennedy’s feat of putting a human on the moon: “He [Kennedy] gave us a goal of reaching the moon and we achieved it ahead of time. Today, let us look within and step up to the challenge of our time,” the President said during his commencement speech, adding, “Only a truly effective, preventive HIV vaccine can limit and eventually eliminate the threat of AIDS.”

The following year, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) marked the anniversary of Clinton’s speech as World AIDS Vaccine Day, thereby kicking off the tradition.

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Signifiance:

As per the NIAID’s HIV awareness website, hiv.org, World AIDS Vaccine Day is observed to “thank the volunteers, community members, health professionals, and scientists working together to find a safe and effective preventive HIV vaccine.”

It is also observed to “educate communities about the importance of preventive HIV vaccine research.”

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Theme:

World AIDS Vaccine Day usually has a theme: in 2021, the theme was ‘Global solidarity, shared responsibility’.

However, no such theme had been announced for the 2022 edition of the event at the time of writing this article.

Status of HIV vaccine:

While research on a preventive HIV vaccine began at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Maryland in 1987, it has recently been aided by research on COVID-19 vaccines.

Commenting on the timeline for a preventive HIV vaccine, Dr Derseree Archary, a senior scientist at the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), told the press, “I know this experimental vaccine sounds like science fiction, but I think in the next 5, 6 years, we should have a vaccine, hopefully, that may be able to confer some degree of protection against HIV.”