2001 AVAC Report: 6 Years and Counting: Can a Shifting Landscape Accelerate an AIDS Vaccine?

In 1996, AVAC was the first organization to demand that development of an AIDS vaccine become a national goal. President Clinton set that goal in May 1997, calling for a successful vaccine by 2007. We are now six years away from the goal and counting. None of the challenges are insurmountable. The optimism that characterizes HIV vaccine research today should drive policy makers and researchers to grapple effectively with the issues that remain. An HIV vaccine is possible. The question is how soon we find it, and who gets it when we do.