World AIDS Vaccine Day 2022: Know all about the significance of this day

World AIDS Vaccine Day is celebrated each year to raise awareness about the importance of HIV vaccinations in preventing HIV infection and AIDS. It is observed on May 18 each year and is also known as the HIV Vaccine Awareness Day.

This day is a chance to thank the volunteers, community members, health professionals, and scientists who are all working together to find a safe and effective preventive HIV vaccine. The day is also marked to educate communities about the importance of preventive HIV vaccine research.

HIV Vaccine Awareness Day pushes the medical community to recognise the need for new and effective technologies that can help to develop a comprehensive response to this life-threatening disease.

HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a virus that attacks cells that help the body fight infection, making a person more vulnerable to other diseases and infections. HIV is a transmissible disease and it can be contracted through unprotected sex, bodily fluids and sharing needles. It can also be transmitted to a baby from the mother during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding. Some early symptoms like flu, fever, and sore throat can be seen within a few weeks of the infection.

If left untreated, HIV can lead to the disease AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). AIDS is the late stage of HIV infection that occurs when the body’s immune system is badly damaged because of the virus.

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The origin of the World AIDS Vaccine Day is rooted in a speech delivered by former US President Bill Clinton on May 18, 1997, at the Morgan State University, Maryland. Clinton suggested that only a really effective, preventive HIV vaccine can contain and eradicate the fatal disease. He appealed to the world to develop an AIDS vaccine within the next decade by putting science and technology to optimum use.

In 1998, the first World AIDS Vaccine Day was observed for the first time to commemorate the first anniversary of Clinton's speech. Every year communities around the world organize various activities on this day to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS vaccines, prevention and educate people. First identified in 1981, HIV is the cause of one of humanity’s deadliest and most persistent epidemics.

The human body can’t get rid of HIV and no effective HIV cure exists. So, once you have HIV, you have it for life. However, antiretroviral therapy (ART) can impede the development of the disease. It also help to prevent them from transmitting HIV to their sexual partners. Nowadays, effective HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care allow infected people to have long and healthy lives. In addition, there are effective methods to prevent getting HIV through sex or drug use, including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP).

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