For Immediate Release
Media Contact:
Justin Burke - 213.201.1525
EMAIL:jburke@apla.org
NATIONAL
DAY TO FOCUS ON HIV VACCINE
Nine Community Organizations Sponsor Day of Awareness
and Information
May 11, 2004, Los Angeles, CA – Leading researchers, vaccine trial participants and experts from HIV/AIDS organizations from across California will gather on Tuesday, May 18 to mark National HIV Vaccine Awareness Day at a daylong community forum.
A collaboration of more than nine organizations and the only event of its kind in Southern California, the forum will be held at the Mayer Auditorium, Keck School of Medicine, USC Heath Sciences campus, Keith Administration Building – 1st Floor, 1975 Zonal Avenue in Los Angeles. The public session, preceded by a 9:00 am press conference, will run from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm.
National HIV Vaccine Awareness Day is a day to raise awareness of the need for an HIV vaccine to prevent transmission of HIV, and an opportunity to recognize the contributions of scientists, study volunteers, and health professionals who are working to find a safe and efficacious vaccine. To acknowledge the day, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has approved a resolution marking May 18 as National HIV Vaccine Awareness Day.
Scheduled speakers include: Dr. Kathie Ferbas, a vaccine researcher at UCLA, Phill Wilson, Executive Director of the Black AIDS Institute, representatives from the Los Angeles County Department of Health and several vaccine trial participants, among them Herminio Reyes, the first Los Angeles resident to volunteer for a vaccine study by one of the major pharmaceutical companies, Merck & Co, Inc.
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), there are more than 20 promising HIV vaccines in various stages of testing. With the failure last year of the first large-scale trial of an experimental HIV vaccine, experts estimate that safe, effective and long-lasting vaccines are at least ten years away.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that as many as 950,000 Americans are living with HIV/AIDS. Each year, more than 40,000 people become infected with HIV in the United States; 70 percent are men, 30 percent are women, and half are younger than 25 years old.
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