World HIV Vaccine Day Set for Friday, May 18

On May 18, the Alabama Vaccine Research Clinic at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (AVRC at UAB) will join other vaccine research sites in observing World HIV Vaccine Day.

Posted on May 10, 2001 at 10:25 a.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — On May 18, the Alabama Vaccine Research Clinic at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (AVRC at UAB) will join other vaccine research sites in observing World HIV Vaccine Day. The day is set aside each year to thank vaccine trial volunteers and to draw attention to vaccine research and the need for more volunteers to participate in HIV vaccine studies.

In observance, AVRC at UAB will hold a volunteer appreciation banquet on May 15 at 6 p.m. at the Mountain Brook Inn. “It is a small token of our appreciation for the individuals who have volunteered to participate in vaccine studies,” says Dr. Mark Mulligan, director of AVRC at UAB. “They play a vital role in the search for a vaccine for HIV/AIDS, and we are grateful for their involvement.”

Since the clinic opened in 1994, it has enrolled more than 400 volunteers in 25 studies to test the safety and effectiveness of potential HIV vaccines. “There is absolutely no chance of contracting HIV from a test vaccine,” says Mulligan. “Studies are done to determine whether there are any adverse side effects from a candidate vaccine and if it is capable of boosting the body’s immune system.”

 

Also in observance, the clinic and the Center for AIDS Research at UAB will sponsor an information booth at City Stages, May 18-20. “On May 18, World HIV Vaccine Day, the focus will be on sharing information about HIV vaccine research, studies under way at AVRC at UAB, and how individuals can get involved and help,” says Mulligan.

Since the first case of AIDS was reported in Alabama in 1982, 11,116 Alabamians have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, the virus that causes AIDS, and 3,186 have died from the disease. "Globally, nearly six million new infections occur each year, and most people do not have access to effective treatment," says Mulligan. "We must continue to work on a vaccine."

For more information about World HIV Vaccine Day or activities planned by AVRC at UAB, contact Leslie Cooper at (205) 975-2839 or visit the clinic website at www.uab.edu/avrc.