Building on momentum from the highly successful COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials, the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) is launching a new HIV awareness campaign and unveiling a first-of-its-kind national registry that will provide updated HIV information and make it easier to learn about and participate in HIV clinical trials at HelpEndHIV.org. The “Help End HIV” campaign is designed to increase awareness – especially among younger people – that HIV remains a major health issue globally and within the United States. Recent audience research conducted by HVTN found that many Americans are not aware that HIV is still a health issue in the U.S., are unsure if they might be vulnerable to exposure, and do not know if there is a cure. The educational campaign is paired with the launch of the Red Ribbon Registry, a unique, consumer-friendly volunteer database designed to match people who are interested in supporting HIV vaccine research with HIV clinical trials in their communities. The new Red Ribbon Registry builds on successful community engagement work from the COVID-19 vaccine trials conducted by the COVID-19 Prevention Network. CoVPN is a clinical trial network activated for the COVID-19 pandemic based on the infrastructure of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases-funded HVTN. Community advocates, physicians, scientists, epidemiologists and others are taking the lessons learned from COVID-19 vaccine research and applying successful strategies and tactics to re-energize HIV vaccine research.
