Global Alliance to Immunize against aids 146 Clifford Street [phone]

Global Alliance to Immunize against AIDS

146 Clifford Street [phone]

Providence, RI 02903 USA

www.GAIAvaccine.org
Contact information:

Mali Rochas

Executive Director,

GAIA Vaccine Foundation

401 453 2068

or Anne S. De Groot M.D.

401 952 4227

For Immediate Release

World AIDS Day, December 1, 2010

Providence, Rhode Island

GAIA Vaccine Foundation Hope is a Vaccine Award Winner Michel Sidibé Reports Substantial Progress in Reducing New Infections and Deaths: on Worlds AIDS Day 2010

The number of new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths has been reduced by nearly 20%, according to GAIA Vaccine Foundation’s Hope is a Vaccine Award winner for 2010. Fewer people are becoming infected with HIV and fewer people are dying from AIDS, and 56 countries have reported a reduction in the rate of new HIV infections this year. On this positive note, GAIA Vaccine Foundation is proud to report that the 2010 Hope is a Vaccine awards will go to Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS and two other individuals who have made substantial contributions to stopping the AIDS epidemic.

• 
  International Hope is a Vaccine Award 2010 is awarded to Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS for promoting universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support at the global level
  

Michel Sidibé is the Executive Director of UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. He has been the driving force behind promoting universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support at the global level. Mr. Sidibé is also calling for virtual elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV by 2015. GAIA VF salutes Mr. Sidibé for his leadership and courageous efforts to expand access to life-saving HIV treatment to all individuals who are in need.

• 
  National Hope is a Vaccine Award 2010: Julie McElrath, Ph.D., HIV Vaccine Trials Researcher
  

Dr. Julie McElrath is Principal Investigator and Director of the HVTN (HIV Vaccine Trials Network) Laboratory Program and Seattle Vaccine Trials Unit. Dr. McElrath has built and maintains a successful international HIV vaccine laboratory program, conducts translational immunological research in humans in a multicenter setting, where her research has contributed to fundamental understanding of how T cells control HIV infection. She has played a leadership role at the national and international level in several well known HIV vaccine initiatives (HVTN, Microbicides Network, Gates HIV Vaccine Enterprise) and has upheld higher standards for the quality of HIV vaccine research on an international level. Above all, her methodical approach to HIV Vaccine trial evaluation, her equanimity and her balanced perspective on HIV vaccines is appreciated and valued by members of HIV vaccine community.

• 
  Local Hope is a Vaccine Award Winner: Gail Skowron, M.D., HIV Expert in Providence, RI
  

Gail Skowron, M.D. is Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Roger Williams Medical Center and a Professor of Medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine. She also holds an appointment as Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine at Brown University School of Medicine. She directs the Infectious Disease program at the Roger Williams Hospital, in Providence Rhode Island. She is director of the HIV Immunology Laboratory at Roger Williams Hospital, where she studies the mechanism of CD4 cell depletion in HIV disease, including the evaluation of lymph node and gut-associated lymphoid tissues. Above all, Gail is commended for her dedication to HIV/AIDS patients and her sensitivity to all aspects of her patient’s lives while providing the highest possible quality of care.

Previous winners of the Hope is a Vaccine Award include:
2003: Neal Nathanson, M.D. former polio vaccine pioneer and former director of the Office for AIDS Research, NIH. Also celebrated: David Weiner, AIDS vaccine researcher, Ken Mayer, HIV expert, and DeeDee Williams, HIV vaccine trial participant.

2004: Peggy Johnston, Ph.D. Associate Director, Division of AIDS, NIAID, NIH. Also celebrated: Susan Cu Uvin, M.D (MTCTP advocate) and Ousmane Koita, Ph.D. Malian HIV vaccine researcher.

2005: Jose Esparza, M.D. Director of the Global AIDS Vaccine Initiative, at the Gates Foundation. Also receiving Hope is a Vaccine Award 2005 were Habib Koite (international music artist) and President A. T. Toure of Mali.

2006: Sonia Erlich Sachs M.D. and Jeff Sachs Ph.D. of Millennium Village Project. Also celebrated: TB clinician and patient advocate, Jane Carter, M.D., and 3 local awardees.

2007: Stephen Lewis, former UN Ambassador for AIDS. Also receiving an award in 2007: HIV Vaccine Researcher Judy Lieberman, M.D., Ph.D. and Leigh Blake of Keep a Child Alive.

2008: Daniel Halperin, Ph.D., proponent of male circumcision and birth control for HIV/AIDS prevention. Also celebrated in 2008: Prison HIV experts Rick Altice, David Thomas, David Paar, David Wohl, and Joe Bick, National Hope is a Vaccine Award winners, and Jesse Creel, Hope is a Vaccine 2008 Advocacy award winner.

2009: Ira Magaziner, architect of the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative and TB vaccine visionary Carol Nacy, Ph.D. (Sequella, Foundation) were the principal Hope is a Vaccine Award winners, 2009. Also celebrated were Rhode Islanders Ed Wood and Anne Sliney of the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative.



About World AIDS Day

Ahead of World AIDS Day, December 1, 2010, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) released new data on the global AIDS epidemic. According to that report, at the end of 2009, 33.3 million people globally were living with HIV; 2.6 million people became newly infected with HIV, 1.8 million people died from AIDS-related causes. More than two thirds of people living with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa. While the number of new infections and deaths has come down, the global rate of new infections still exceeds the number of deaths by 800,000 persons per year, which underscores the need for vaccines to address the continuing expansion of the AIDS epidemic.

The complete UNAIDS Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic 2010 is available at:

http://www.unaids.org/globalreport/Global_report.htm
About GAIA Vaccine Foundation

The mission of GAIA Vaccine Foundation (GAIA VF) is Global Vaccine, Global Access. It is the goal of GAIA to distribute the HIV vaccine developed as a result of this project at no profit in developing countries. Dr. Annie De Groot, who was recently named the Director of the Institute for Immunology and Information at the University of Rhode Island, is carrying forward preclinical studies of the GAIA HIV/AIDS vaccine.

GAIA VF is also working hard to curb HIV infections on a global scale. Since the development of a globally relevant, globally accessible vaccine is years away, GAIA VF also coordinates HIV education, prevention and access to care programs in Providence and Bamako, working to stop HIV until a vaccine is developed.

In keeping with these objectives, GAIA VF has built the Hope Center Clinic, a new HIV treatment center in Sikoro, Mali, care – in a CSCOM, or lowest rung on the clinical ladder of state-run clinics in Mali. This is the first ‘village-based’ clinic for improving universal access to HIV care in West Africa. GAIA VF has also provided access to MTCTP at the Hope Clinic’s “Chez Rosalie” prenatal care center for the past five years. Sikoro is one of the poorest neighborhoods of Bamako, the capital city of one of the poorest countries in the world, and consequently has very high HIV prevalence when compared to the rest of the city. The Hope Center is a model for future HIV clinics, as it currently serves tens of thousands of people who previously had little to no access to HIV testing and treatment.

Mr. Sidibé, the 2010 Hope is a Vaccine Award winner, is a native of Mali, Africa, where GAIA VF’s Hope Center Clinic and HIV vaccine trials preparation activities are located.

Expansion of the GAIA VF CSCOM “Hope Clinic” model of village-based HIV treatment and prenatal HIV testing and MTCTP to the 700 CSCOMs in Mali (and to similar village-based clinics throughout Africa) is one of several universal access interventions is expected to reduce HIV transmission in the next five years.

For more information,

see http://www.GAIAVaccine.org

About the Hope is a Vaccine Award

The Hope is a Vaccine Award, awarded annually to deserving individuals working in the international, national and local fight against HIV/AIDS, highlights the important work done by individuals fighting AIDS and their contributions to improving HIV care for persons living at the margins. GAIA VF hopes that the award will shed light on the hard work done by courageous advocates, scientists, and policy makers, and that the award will encourage more individuals to be engaged in the fight against HIV/AIDS world wide.

Next GAIA Vaccine Fundraiser to be held in 2011

The annual Hope is a Vaccine award ceremony and gala fundraiser will be deferred until 2011, when Mr. Sidibé will visit Providence Rhode Island. This annual gala raises funds to support research on a novel AIDS vaccine which is based on the principle that the HIV virus has one or many “Achilles’ Heels,” which are vulnerable to attack by the human immune system. Funds also support HIV Education, Prevention efforts, and Access to care programs in Mali and Providence.