Second Annual AIDS Vaccine Day Honors Volunteers Nationwide

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0, NIH NEWS RELEASE
OP HEI '
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious Diseases
FOR RELEASE James Hadley
Thursday, May 13, 1999 [phone]
[email protected]
Second Annual AIDS Vaccine Day Honors Volunteers Nationwide
"...I have a conviction.., to make a difference in the course of this epidemic so humanity
does not lose anyone else to this plague."
-- An AIDS vaccine study volunteer
New York, N.Y.
On May 18, communities around the country will sponsor a variety of activities
for the Second Annual AIDS Vaccine Day honoring the thousands of volunteers who
have literally rolled up their sleeves to receive one of 27 different experimental AIDS
vaccines. The activities are also designed to help people understand why a vaccine is
the best way to stop the spread of HIV, what it will take to develop an effective vaccine
and how ordinary people in their communities can be part of the international effort to
find one.
"All of us are indebted to the individuals on the front lines of the effort to find a
safe and effective AIDS vaccine," says Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). "AIDS Vaccine Day honors those
volunteers who play a vital role as research partners. The rapid development of an
AIDS vaccine remains a top priority of the National Institutes of Health."
NIH will spend an estimated $194 million for AIDS vaccine research in Fiscal
Year 1999, which represents a 100 percent increase over four years ago.
May 18 marks the anniversary of President Bill Clinton's 1997 commencement
speech at Morgan State University in which he announced the establishment of the
Vaccine Research Center at NIH. Currently under construction, the center is scheduled

to open in the summer of 2000. The 50,000-square-foot, $30 million building is a state(more) 557111111 I 1 1 050 30 1111111it
(more) 5571095.0363.004