World AIDS Vaccine Day: All About HIV Vaccine Awareness Day
Every year on May 18, the world commemorates World AIDS Vaccine Day. The day is also known as HIV Vaccine Awareness Day.
It is a campaign aimed at increasing public awareness about the importance of HIV vaccinations in preventing HIV infection and AIDS.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) are two Lentivirus (a retrovirus subgroup) species that infect people, later progressing into Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
It's a disease that causes the immune system to gradually collapse, leading to occurrence of life-threatening infections.
The Human Immunodeficiency Virus, or HIV, affects cells that assist the body fight infection. HIV increases a person's risk of contracting other diseases.
The first World AIDS Vaccine Day was held on May 18, 1998, and was observed around the world.
The idea for HIV Vaccine Awareness Day came from former US President Bill Clinton's commencement speech at Morgan State University in 1997 (May 18).
Clinton had underlined the need of maximising the use of science and technology in developing a vaccine that would improve people's ability to fight HIV and thereby protect the globe from the deadly disease of AIDS.