Florida Senate - 2009 (NP) SR 2822 By Senator Wilson 33-06216-09 20092822__ 1 Senate Resolution 2 A resolution recognizing May 18, 2009, as “AIDS 3 Vaccine Advocacy Day” in Florida. 4 5 WHEREAS, the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC) was 6 founded in 1995 as a nonprofit, community and consumer-based 7 organization that uses public education, policy analysis, 8 advocacy, and community mobilization to accelerate the ethical 9 development and global delivery of AIDS vaccines and other HIV 10 prevention options, and 11 WHEREAS, more than 40 million people worldwide are infected 12 with HIV/AIDS and 14,000 new infections occur every day, and 13 WHEREAS, a safe, effective, and globally accessible vaccine 14 is the best hope for controlling the devastating AIDS pandemic, 15 with vaccines having played the key role in saving more lives 16 and resources than any other public health intervention in 17 eradicating or dramatically reducing the incidence of other 18 diseases, such as smallpox and polio, and 19 WHEREAS, despite unprecedented efforts, no effective 20 vaccine has yet been developed against HIV, which killed 3 21 million people in 2003, more than any other infectious disease, 22 and 23 WHEREAS, results are expected this year from a Project 24 Unity study of different risk-reduction interventions for HIV 25 vaccine trials in the United States, NOW, THEREFORE, 26 27 Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida: 28 29 That efforts to accelerate ethical research and global 30 delivery of AIDS vaccines and other HIV prevention options are 31 strongly encouraged and that May 18, 2009, is recognized as 32 “AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Day” in Florida.