HIV VACCINE AWARENESS DAY

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In honor of HIV Vaccine Awareness Day on May 18, our advisory board member, Justin T. Siu, MD, MS, shared insight on the reccently approved HIV prevention injection and the importance of continued scientific research and global development of HIV vaccines.

hands reaching for various medications, both pills and injections.

HIV Vaccine Awareness Day held annually on May 18 commemorates US President BIll Clinton's 1997 declaration that "only a truly effective, preventive HIV vaccine can limit and eventually eliminate the threat of AIDS and serves to recognize the extensive national and international efforts invested into eradicating HIV/AIDS"1 (1). The NIH (National Institute of Health) has been one of the world’s largest funders of vaccine research, alongside significant contributions from the Gates Foundation. While an effective vaccine has yet to be approved, IAVI, a global nonprofit scientific research organization, announced in January 2026 the first doses of experimental HIV vaccine antigens were administered December 2025 at the Perinatal HIV Research Unit in Soweto, South Africa, initiating the IAVI G004 Clinical Trial. Scientists are testing a highly specialized vaccine immunogen that targets certain B cells to produce a broadly neutralizing antibody against HIV (2). On a different front, the US approved a twice yearly injection (lenacapavir) to prevent HIV just last year in 2025 (3). While some researchers question whether vaccine development remains necessary in the setting of lenacapavir, Professor Linda-Gail Bekker an IAVI Board director argues that “We need something that transcends stigma, transcends the need for regular dosing, transcends the need for health systems that function” (4).

The ongoing progress in HIV vaccine development is particularly notable in the setting of US’ PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS) and USAID (US Agency for INternational Development) funding disruptions last year in alignment with Trump’s “America First” foreign policy. This funding, which has long been the backbone of international HIV/AIDS eradication efforts, was temporarily paused in early 2025. While some of these services have been unevenly restored since mid-2025, Physicians for Human Rights recognizes that even as of late March 2026- more than a year after the disruptions began- HIV along with basic health services remain impaired in countries around the world.  South Africa, as a pointed example, receives 80-90% of its national HIV funding from the US; they are the largest recipient of funding from the NIH (outside the US) with additional investments from USAID and CDC. Physician for Human Rights notes these global cuts wasted hundreds of millions of dollars of investments by abandoning primary prevention programs and technologies designed to support large-scale prevention efforts, and squandered hundreds of millions of dollars of investments by failing to continue engaging with a unique collaborative research infrastructure including laboratories, data systems, clinical trial platforms, and highly skilled personnel (5).

Nearly 32,000 people in the US contract HIV every year. Worldwide, ~1.3 million people contract HIV every year (6). MTSE is proud to recognize HIV Vaccine Awareness Day, and the need to continue educating about HIV/AIDS in schools.

  1. “HIV Vaccine Awareness Day | NIH.” Nih.gov, 2021, hivinfo.nih.gov/understanding-hiv/hiv-aids-awareness-days/hiv-vaccine-awareness-day.

  2. “IAVI Announces First Vaccinations in IAVI G004, a Phase 1 Clinical Trial of a Promising HIV Vaccine Approach.” IAVI, 13 Feb. 2026, www.iavi.org/press-release/iavi-announces-first-vaccinations-in-iavi-g004-a-phase-1-clinical-trial-of-a-promising-hiv-vaccine-approach/?utm_source=chatgpt.com.

  3. Patel, Rupa R, et al. “Clinical Recommendation for the Use of Injectable Lenacapavir as HIV Preexposure Prophylaxis — United States, 2025.” MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, vol. 74, no. 35, 18 Sept. 2025, pp. 541–549, www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/74/wr/mm7435a1.htm?s_cid=OS_mm7435a1_w, https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7435a1.

  4. “2025 in Review: HIV Vaccine Research through the Eyes of African Scientists.” IAVI, 2 Jan. 2026, www.iavi.org/features/2025-in-review/?utm_source=chatgpt.com. Accessed 4 May 2026.

  5. “Wasted Investments, Looming Crisis: The Impact of U.S. Global Health Funding Cuts on HIV in South Africa - PHR.” PHR, 21 Apr. 2026, phr.org/our-work/resources/wasted-investments-looming-crisis-the-impact-of-u-s-global-health-funding-cuts-on-hiv-in-south-africa/.

  6. “Be the Generation.” Fred Hutch, 2025, www.fredhutch.org/en/research/divisions/vaccine-infectious-disease-division/research/immunology-and-vaccine-development/be-the-generation.html. Accessed 4 May 2026.