HIV Vaccine Awareness Day: In May 2018, the story is…

HIV Vaccine Awareness Day (HVAD), May 18, is just a week away. Today, we’re bringing you AVAC’s annual HVAD Toolkit, a new advocacy resource—The Story Is…, and our HVAD webinar announcement!

AVAC’s HVAD 2018 webinar, to be held on Thursday, May 17, 9am ET, will tell the current story of HIV vaccine research from two perspectives. Dr. Sandhya Vasan of the Military HIV Research Program in Thailand will give her take on the world of HIV vaccine research since RV144: from where have we come, and where are we going? Mark Hubbard, a seasoned vaccine advocate and community representative for HIV research in Nashville, Tennessee will tell the story from a community and advocacy perspective: what are today’s current successes and challenges, and how are community members pushing the HIV vaccine agenda? Register now.

We’re especially excited in this year’s HVAD Toolkit to bring you a set of infographics that explain key aspects of vaccine research—trial participant and enrollment numbers, global funding, trials timelines, and more. We also have updated versions of old favorites you’ve come to expect each year, all available online at www.avac.org/hvad.

• HIV Vaccines: Introductory Factsheet (PDF)
• HVAD Key Messages (PDF)
• HIV Vaccine Basics presentation (PPT)

So, what is the story this year for HVAD? The story is the science, with an unprecedented level of vaccine and antibody clinical activity underway. But it’s not only the science—there are other important stories to tell as well, about global support for vaccine research in a time when there are many priorities in HIV prevention, and about stakeholder engagement in the current trial context. AVAC is publishing a special advocacy document, The Story Is…, which explores all this with an eye on primary prevention and the central role that research must play in it. Download it here.

As always, AVAC hopes these tools prove useful for HVAD events in your communities around the world. We know many of you are hard at work for HVAD, and we can’t wait to hear your stories, too.