Bill Clinton once said, “It is no longer a question of whether we can develop an AIDS vaccine; it is simply a question of when. Moreover, it cannot come a day too soon.” This was the historical statement said by the then American President about twenty-one years ago. It was the HIV vaccine awareness day of the year 1997. Bill Clinton addressed the nation from the Morgan State University. On the same day, he set forth a national goal for the development of the AIDS vaccine.
2018 is the twenty-first year of the HIV vaccine awareness day. It has been thirty-five years for the HIV vaccine in the research stage. The research is still on-going. The market today has vaccines in the form of the injectables, but even it took the robust study of about decades to develop.
AVAC is global advocacy for the HIV prevention. Each year, on the eighteenth day of May, the AVAC advocates marks the progress witnessed in search of an AIDS vaccination.
The current research focuses on the development of two vaccines against the HIV infection. Out of the two vaccines, one kind of the HIV vaccine might prove beneficiary for the HIV-negative people less prone to HIV infection.
The official statement on the HIV research reads, “It would teach their immune systems (made up of cells that fight disease) to spot HIV right away if it enters the body. It would prepare disease-fighting cells to stop HIV from spreading, so it does not have a chance to take hold.” Currently, there is no licensed HIV prevention available in the market.
The other kind of the HIV vaccine under research is the therapeutic form of the HIV vaccine. It is meant for the people living with HIV. The vaccines would help to boost their immune system and keep the viral load under control. It will indeed make them less likely to develop any diseases. Also, the therapeutic HIV vaccine might prove beneficial in controlling the amount of the anti-HIV treatment they undergo currently. Additionally, the therapeutic HIV vaccine might help the researchers with the possibilities of developing a cure for the disease.