25 Years of HIV

1978 Gay men in the US and Sweden -- and heterosexuals in Tanzania and Haiti -- begin showing signs of what will later be called AIDS.

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1980 Deaths in US -- 31 (includes all known cases 1981 and before)

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1981 On June 5th, the CDC reports that in the period October 1980-May 1981, 5 young men, all active homosexuals, were treated for biopsy-confirmed Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia at 3 different hospitals in Los Angeles, California. Two of the patients died. All 5 patients had laboratory-confirmed previous or current cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and candidal mucosal infection.
On July 4th, the CDC reports that during the past 30 months, 26 cases of Kaposi Sarcoma have been reported among Gay males, and that eight have died, all within 24-months of diagnosis.
Number of known deaths in US during 1981 -- 234.

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1982 CDC (USA) links the new disease to blood.
The term AIDS ("acquired immune dificiency syndrome") is used for the first time on July 27th.
Larry Speakes, President Reagan's press secretary jokes about AIDS during press briefing on October 15th.
US President Ronald Reagan has not mentioned the word "AIDS" in public yet.
The Gay Mens Health Crisis is founded in New York City.
Number of known deaths in US during 1982 -- 853.

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1983 CDC (USA) warns blood banks of a possible problem with the blood supply.
Institut Pasteur (France) finds the virus (HIV).
US President Ronald Reagan has not mentioned the word "AIDS" in public yet.
Number of known deaths in US during 1983 -- 2304.

Provincetown AIDS Support Group founded.

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1984 Dr. Robert Gallo (US) claims he discovered the virus that causes AIDS; however, this is about a year after the French discovery.
US President Ronald Reagan has not mentioned the word "AIDS" in public yet.
Opus BBS is released, becoming the first mainstream software system to donate 100% of its proceeds to AIDS care/research.
Number of known deaths in US during 1984 -- 4251, including --
Gaetan Dugas, listed in The Band Played On as "patient zero."

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1985 The FDA (US) approves the first HIV antibody test. Blood products begin to be tested in the US and Japan.
The first International Conference on AIDS is held in Atlanta (US).
US President Ronald Reagan mentions the word "AIDS" in public for the first time in response to a reporters questions on September 17, 1985. See, also: Associated Press, Los Angeles Times
AmFAR is founded in Los Angeles.
The first AIDS-related play -- The Normal Heart, by Larry Kramer -- opens in New York.
Number of known deaths in US during 1985 -- 5636, including --
Rock Hudson, film star.

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1986 First Annual AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod Art Auction

President Reagan mentions AIDS in his Message to the Congress on America's Agenda for the Future on February 6, 1986.
US Surgeon General Everett Koop publishes a report on AIDS. It calls for sex education.
Switzerland begins testing of blood products.
Ben Gardiner's AIDS BBS goes on-line in San Francisco, CA (USA).
Number of known deaths in US during 1986 -- 2960.
Cumulative known deaths: 16,301.

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1987 AZT (zidovudine, Retrovir®) -- Glaxo Wellcome -- becomes the first anti-HIV drug approved by the FDA. The recommended dose is one 100mg capsule every four hours around the clock.
Canada stops distribution of tainted blood products.
The US shuts its doors to HIV-infected immigrants and travelers.
On April 2nd, with virtually no mention made in the interim, President Reagan appeared before the College of Physicians in Philadelphia, to deliver his first "major speech" on AIDS, calling it "public enemy number one." Vice President George Bush is heckled when he calls for mandatory HIV testing.
ACT UP is founded in New York City in March.
A family -- including three HIV-positive sons (hemophiliacs) -- are driven from their home (Arcadia, Florida, US) after their home was torched by an arsonist.
After an ACT UP demonstration, the FDA announces a two year shortening in the drug-approval process.
The AIDS Memorial Quilt is started in San Francisco (US).
And The Band Played On by Randy Shilts is published.
Number of known deaths in US during 1987 -- 4,135.
Liberace, entertainer (PCP).
Michael Bennett, Broadway director (Chorus Line).

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1988 US bans discrimination against federal workers with HIV.
US mails 107 million copies of "Understanding AIDS," a booklet by Surgeon General C. Everett Koop.
FDA (US) okays importation of non-approved treatment for PWA personal use.
Number of known deaths in US during 1988 -- 4,855.

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1989 Haiti stops distribution of tainted blood products.
FDA (US) approves pentamidine mist for use against PCP.
After two years of intense ACT UP protests over the price of its drug, AZT, Burroughs Wellcome lowers AZT's price by 20%.
Number of known deaths in US during 1989 -- 14,544.
Amanda Blake, TV star ("Miss Kitty" on Gunsmoke)

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1990 First Annual AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod The Night at the Chef's Table Benefit
Ronald Reagan apologizes for his neglect of the epidemic while he was president (US).
Number of known deaths in US during 1990 -- 18,447.
Halston, American fashion designer.
Keith Haring, artist.
Ryan White, teenager, hemophiliac, AIDS activist.

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1991 ddI (didanosine, Videx®) -- Bristol-Myers Squibb -- a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, is approved for use in the USA.
10 million have HIV worldwide (WHO). More than a million are in the US (CDC).
Professional basketball player Magic Johnson tells the world he has HIV.
Kimberly Bergalis, who apparently got HIV from her dentist asks the US congress to force health care workers to be tested for HIV.
Number of known deaths in US during 1991 -- 20,454.
Rock Singer Freddie Mercury

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1992 ddC (zalcitabine, Hivid®) -- Roche -- a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, is approved for use in the USA.
First clinical trial of multiple drugs is held.
FDA (US) starts "accelerated approval" -- interim licensing -- to get promising drugs to PWAs faster.
PWAs Bob Hattoy and Elizabeth Glaser give speeches to the US Democratic National Convention.
Number of known deaths in US during 1992 -- 23,411.
Robert Reed, actor

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1993 CDC (US) revises its definition of AIDS, including new opportunistic infections.
The so-called "female condom" is approved. In the US, the FDA refused to allow testing for anal sex, saying sodomy is illegal in too many states.
Four French blood bank officials sent to prison for allowing HIV-tainted blood into French blood banks.
Researchers in Europe show taking AZT (monotherapy) early in the disease has no benefits (Concorde study).
Number of known deaths in US during 1993 -- 41,920.
Arthur Ashe, tennis legend.
Rudolf Nureyev, ballet dancer.

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1994 d4T (Zerit®) -- Bristol-Myers Squibb -- a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, is approved for use in the USA.
A Benneton advertisement depicts US Pres. Ronald Reagan with K.S. lesions.
Number of known deaths in US during 1994 -- 32,330.
John Curry, Olympic figure skater.
Randy Shilts, Chronicled rise of AIDS.
Elizabeth Glaser, Crusader for Pediatric AIDS.
Dack Rambo, actor

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1995 Saquinavir (Invirase®) -- Roche -- is approved for use in the US. This is the first anti-HIV drug in the protease inhibitor class.
3TC (lamivudine; Epivir®) -- Glaxo Wellcome -- a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, is approved for use in the US.
Germany convicts four of selling HIV-tainted blood.
US admits it was the Institut Pasteur (France), not Robert Gallo (NIH, US) who discovered the virus that causes AIDS.
Olympic diver Greg Louganis reveals that he has AIDS.
Number of known deaths in US during 1995 -- 48,371.
Eric "Easy-E" Wright, "gangsta" rap star.
Paul Monette, Writer of Gay anguish.

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1996 Nevirapine (Viramune® -- Roxane Laboratories, approved for use in the US. This is the first anti-HIV drug in the class called non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor.
Ritonavir (Norvir®) -- Abbott -- a protease inhibitor, is approved for use in the USA.
Indinavir (Crixivan®) -- Merck -- a protease inhibitor, is approved for use in the USA.
Japan busts Green Cross Pharmaceutical Corp. for dealing in HIV-tainted blood.
Researchers (UCSF) show Kaposi's sarcoma is caused by a herpes virus.
TIME magazine's 1996 Man of the Year is AIDS researcher Dr. David Ho.
Basketball star Magic Johnson returns to play basketball.
Heavyweight boxer Tommy Morrison announces he is HIV positive.
California voters passed Proposition 215 (55.7% to 44.3%) to allow medical use of marijuana. Arizona passed Proposition 200 by a much larger margin, 65.3% to 34.7%.
Number of known deaths in US during 1996 -- 34,947, including:
Peter Adair, filmmaker.

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1997 CDC reports first case of probable HIV transmission through kissing.
CDC reports annual AIDS deaths dropped in the U.S.
Number of known deaths in US during 1997 -- 21,399
Approximate total worldwide death count -- 6,400,000.
Approximate number of HIV-positive people worldwide -- 22,000,000. To put this number in perspective, it is larger than the total population of the continent of Australia.

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1998 Number of known deaths in US during 1998 -- 17,403.

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1999 Number of known deaths in US during 1999 -- 16,762.

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2000 Number of known deaths in US during 2000 -- 14,499.

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2001 Number of known deaths in US during 2001 -- 8,998.

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2002 Number of known deaths in US during 2002 -- 16,371.

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2003 Reports in January suggested that Swaziland had the world's highest rate of HIV with almost four out of 10 adults infected. The Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini said that the official rate had risen to 38.6% from 34.2% in January 2002. This figure was just under Botswana's rate 38.8%, which was still officially the world's worst. But health officials said that Swaziland's figures were already out of date.1

Jerry Thacker, a controversial Christian extremist chosen by the White House to sit on a presidential AIDS advisory panel and who once described the virus as the 'gay plague' was forced to withdraw his name after protests from gay rights groups.2

President George W. Bush reacts to applause while delivering the 2003 State of the Union address. In his State of the Union address on 28th January, US president George Bush proposed spending $15 billion in combating AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean over the next 5 years. He called the scheme 'a great mission of rescue'.3

Just two days later, US Health Secretary Tommy Thompson was elected as the new chairman of the Global Fund for HIV, TB and Malaria. It was hoped this move would prevent a conflict between the Bush administration and the international health community.

In February, a rare case of female-to-female sexual transmission of HIV was reported. Doctors suggested the woman may have been infected through sharing sex toys after drug resistance tests found striking similarities between the HIV strains of the woman and her female HIV-positive partner.

There had still been no dramatic increase in HIV transmission in Cuba since the beginning of the epidemic. The rate of infection was 0.03% and thought to be one of the lowest in the world. There had been virtually no transmission of HIV through injecting drug use, blood transfusion or from mother to child. The government had ensured that all HIV-positive mothers were treated with prophylactic AZT therapy and then the babies were delivered by caesarean section. The country had produced enough antiretrovirals to supply the country's patients.

Globally the epidemic continued to expand, reducing world population estimates by 0.4 billion to 8.9 billion for 2050.

An expert group reaffirmed that unsafe sexual practices were responsible for the majority of HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa. This review was in response to claims made in 2002 that unsafe medical practises were to blame for an important portion of HIV transmission in Africa.

AIDS vaccine development Vaxgen announced that their AIDS vaccine failed to reduce overall HIV infection rates among those who were vaccinated. The vaccine showed a reduction in certain ethnic groups, indicating that black and Asian volunteers may have produced higher levels of antibodies against HIV than white and Hispanic volunteers. However, many outside observers were sceptical of the ethnic group part of the study.10 In November, the AIDS vaccine also failed in clinical trial in Thailand.

Researchers warned that the number of women being diagnosed with HIV in Europe was rapidly catching up with men. The researchers also noted that the initiatives that supply drug users with clean needles have been effective in Europe. HIV transmission through injecting drug use was said to be almost eliminated in France, Germany and the UK and significantly reduced in Spain and Italy.

In March the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) filed manslaughter charges against the health minister and the trade and industry minister in South Africa. The TAC held the ministers responsible for the deaths of 600 people a day whose lives could have been saved if they had had access to antiretroviral drugs.

Russia received an approval for a long delayed loan from the World Bank to tackle HIV/AIDS and TB. For its part, the Russian Government promised to match the loan with $134 million in new money over 5 years for HIV/AIDS and TB. This contribution from the government signalled growing recognition that both HIV/AIDS and TB epidemics represented a threatening crisis for Russia's development.

The antiretroviral Fuzeon (T-20). The first of a new type of anti-HIV drug gained approval in the USA. Unlike all previously approved drugs, Fuzeon (also known as enfuvirtide or T-20) was designed to prevent the entry of HIV into human cells. The drug was not available as a pill and had to be injected. It could be used as part of combination treatment only by patients who had already become resistant to other antiretroviral drugs.

In April the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced a new initiative called Advancing HIV Prevention (AHP), designed to reduce the number of new HIV infections in the US. For two decades before AHP, the CDC "mainly targeted its prevention efforts at persons at risk of becoming infected with HIV by providing funding for … programs aimed at reducing sexual and drug-using risk behavior". In contrast, the new initiative would focus mainly on people already infected with HIV. AHP proposed making HIV testing a routine part of medical care and putting more resources into partner tracing. The recently-licensed rapid HIV test would play a key role in the new initiative.16

The US Senate approved President Bush's international AIDS bill in May, setting a timetable for spending $15 billion over five years.

A team of Belgian researchers reported on the probable origins of HIV-2. They concluded that the virus had probably transferred from sooty mangabeys to humans in Guinea Bissau during the 1940s.

South Korean Lee Jong-Wook took office as the new Director-General of WHO and named HIV/AIDS as his top priority in his first speech.

Meanwhile concerns were mounting over the Global Fund's sustainability as it faced a serious funding shortfall.

New HIV/AIDS figures were released in India in July, and it was estimated that between 3.82 and 4.58 million Indians were HIV positive.

In September the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared that the failure to deliver treatment to nearly six million people with HIV/AIDS in developing countries was a global public health emergency. Only about 300,000 people in developing countries received the drugs at all, and in sub-Saharan Africa, where 4.1 million people were infected, just over 1% or about 50,000 people had access to antiretroviral treatment.

Vatican cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo stated that condoms were not safe and do not protect against the transmission of HIV.

There was a sharp rise in trafficking of heroin through central Asia. This caused an increase in drug addiction and cases of HIV in many impoverished states including Tajikistan. Since the fall of the Taliban, who banned growing of opium poppies (the raw material for producing heroin), production skyrocketed in Afghanistan.

In November the UN World Food Programme said it would shift its humanitarian aid effort in southern Africa from traditional emergency food supply to a greater response to HIV/AIDS including providing nutritional support, awareness campaigns, food baskets and other services to HIV-positive people.

Many drug manufacturers lowered their prices of antiretroviral drugs in resource-poor countries during 2003. These price reductions were welcomed by many countries and organisations but it was also understood that 'lower price medicines alone will not deliver treatment'. What was also needed was the ability of countries to deliver these drugs, building of stronger health systems and training of more health care workers in resource-poor countries.

South Africa approved the long-awaited provision of free antiretroviral drugs in public hospitals in November. The cabinet instructed the Department of Health to proceed with implementation of the plan, which envisaged that within a year there would be at least one service point in every health district across the country, and within five years, one service point in every local municipality.

UNAIDS warned that the efforts to stem the world's AIDS epidemic were 'entirely inadequate'. It was estimated that every day in 2003, around 14,000 people became infected with HIV. It was estimated that 40 million around the world including 2.5 million children were living with HIV/AIDS.

Meanwhile India's health minister said that there would never be an AIDS epidemic in the country.

On World AIDS Day the WHO announced a new plan called '3 by 5' to provide HIV/AIDS treatment for many resource-poor countries. The plan had many different elements, but the WHO were not planning to provide the drugs themselves. WHO was hoping to have 3 million people in resource poor countries on AIDS drugs by the end of 2005.

"Nothing close to this has ever been tried. It's not like finding babies with diarrohea and treating them for a week, or adults with tuberculosis and treating them for six months - both of which have been major efforts by the WHO in recent decades... HIV infection is a chronic disease. The 3 million - and the millions who will come after them - will have to take their medicine for years, until they die."

Also on World AIDS Day, Wen Jiabao became the first Chinese premier to shake the hand of an AIDS patient. Mr Wen's handshake broadcast in close-up was the most dramatic of a series of government moves that demonstrate a new determination to fight AIDS.

The Chinese government announced a policy of 'Four Frees and One Care', which promised free antiretrovirals to poor city dwellers and to everyone in the countryside; free voluntary counselling and testing; free drugs to prevent mother-to-child transmission; free schooling for AIDS orphans; and care and economic assistance to the households of people living with HIV/AIDS.

According to new estimates, the number of people infected with HIV in the UK increased by almost 20% between 2001 and 2002, from 41,700 to 49,500, of whom 31% were undiagnosed.

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2004 In January Brazil's government reached a deal with pharmaceutical companies to reduce the price of HIV/AIDS drugs by around a third. It was believed that the deal saved the government about $100 million in 2004 and cut the average treatment cost per patients to a new low of $1,200.36 Also, 10 million free condoms were given out to people in Brazil during the carnival season as part of an AIDS-prevention campaign.

In February, the president of Malawi, Bakili Muluzi announced that his brother had died from AIDS. This was intended to highlight issues of stigma and discrimination in talking about HIV/AIDS. President Muluzi made the announcement as he launched the first AIDS policy in a country where an estimated 15% of the 15 million population were HIV-positive.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria suspended payments to three HIV/AIDS programmes in Ukraine, citing concerns over slow progress and management problems. It was the first time in its history that the Global Fund stopped funding to a scheme that it had supported.

In parts of Russia and eastern Europe, HIV was spreading faster than anywhere else in the world. A survey by the United Nations Development Programme estimated that almost one in 100 Russians were HIV-positive and that AIDS could claim up to 20.7 million lives by 2045.40 The head of the UN Development Programme, Mark Malloch Brown, criticised Russia's efforts to combat the virus:

"President Putin mentioned it last May, but one speech is not enough and one reference in a speech is not enough."

Stephen Lewis, the UN special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa warned that the WHO's attempt to get three million people onto treatment by the end of 2005 was compromised because of lack of financial support from the world's richest countries.

"There has never been a more determined plan of action… If 3 by 5 fails, as it surely will without the dollars, then there are no excuses left, no rationalizations to hide behind, no murky slanders to justify indifference. There will only be the mass graves of the betrayed."

- Stephen Lewis, UN Special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa

In March, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the first oral fluid rapid HIV test.

South Africa began a programme to give out free HIV/AIDS drugs after years of confusion and delays. The program started in South Africa's richest province, Gauteng, where five major hospitals, including Chris Hani Baragwanath, the largest in Africa, were selected to administer the drugs.

A study found that the HIV prevalence rate in Uganda had been reduced by 70% since the early 1990s. It was estimated that half a million Ugandans were HIV positive in 2004, compared with 1.5 million a decade before. It was believed that the reduction in HIV prevalence was due to people limiting their number of sexual partners as well as to effective prevention efforts in local communities.

"In Uganda people became engaged with the epidemic at the community level. Local care groups, religious movements, non-governmental organisations and care networks all spread the message. Families, friends and neighbours began talking about HIV prevention and care, and sexually transmitted diseases stopped being a taboo subject."

A survey of US media coverage of the AIDS epidemic revealed that the number of AIDS-related stories peaked in 1987. This rapidly declined in the early 1990s, despite these being the peak years for AIDS deaths. The stories increased slightly in 1991, when Magic Johnson spoke publicly about his HIV-status. The number of stories revived again in 1996-7 with the introduction of combination therapy.

In May, five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor accused of deliberately infecting children with HIV were sentenced to death by a Libyan court. The medical staff had been detained in 1998 and the trial started in 2000.

The US porn industry was hit by fears of HIV outbreak among its stars. By May, five porn actors had been found to be HIV-positive.49 The porn business in the US was believed to generate billions of dollars every year and its stars were frequently monitored for HIV.

President Bush's $15 billion initiative to combat the global AIDS pandemic, by now known as PEPFAR (President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief), began full implementation in June, having received its first funding in January. PEPFAR was to concentrate on fifteen focus countries, all of them in Africa except Guyana, Haiti and Vietnam (which was a late addition to the list). The initiative set a goal of providing AIDS treatment to 200,000 people living in the focus countries by June 2005.

A new UNAIDS report estimated that 37.8 million people were living with HIV at the end of 2003, including 17 million women and 2.1 million children under 15 years old. It was estimated that there were nearly 8,000 AIDS deaths per day during 2003. These were slightly lower than previous estimates because improvements had been made to the estimation process, but without doubt the epidemic was still expanding. The number of AIDS orphans had risen to 15 million, of whom 12.1 million lived in sub-Saharan Africa.2

The WHO announced that, by the end of June, 440,000 people in developing and transitional countries were receiving antiretroviral treatment, an improvement of 40,000 since the end of 2003.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced that it would donate $50 million to the Global Fund, bringing its total Fund contributions so far to $150 million.

The South African Treatment Action Campaign and its leader, Zackie Achmat, were jointly nominated for the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, but were not chosen to win.

In November the Global Fund said that it would delay launching its fifth round of grants for five months because of a funding shortfall. Some commentators said the US was not providing enough support for the Global Fund because it preferred its own PEPFAR initiative.

Women, Girls, HIV and AIDS was chosen as the theme of World AIDS Day 2004. Events to mark the ocassion took place around the world, including in China, where Premier Wen Jiabao called for "unremitting efforts" against the epidemic, and the Exectutive of the Global Fund warned of catasrophic consequences should such efforts fail.

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2005 At the start of the year, UNAIDS published a report predicting the future of the global AIDS epidemic. Three very different scenarios highlighted how much would depend on the responses of governments, donors and civil society.

Also in January, both the WHO and PEPFAR published figures detailing numbers of people receiving AIDS drugs. PEPFAR said it had helped to provide treatment to nearly 155,000 people in its fifteen focus countries by end of September.62 The WHO said that the total number receiving treatment in all developing and transitional countries had risen to 700,000 by the end of 2004, meaning that the 3 by 5 initiative had achieved its latest target.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the first time approved a generic AIDS drug made by a foreign company. PEPFAR had decided not to trust any drug that had not been approved by the FDA, which meant that all PEPFAR-funded programmes had had to stick to the more expensive brand-named products. However in January the FDA gave its approval to two drugs made by the South African company Aspen Pharmacare. This came just weeks after a product of the US company Barr Laboratories had become the first ever FDA-approved generic, and was predicted to mark a turning point in providing cheaper treatment in Africa.

Nelson Mandela announced that his eldest son Makgatho had died of AIDS, aged 54.

Publication of death certificate data from South Africa revealed that the total number of reported deaths had increased by 57% between 1997 and 2002. Among those aged 25-49 years, the rise was 116% in the same six year period.66 Based on an analysis of a sample of death certificates, the South African Medical Research Council estimated that nearly two-thirds of deaths related to HIV had been misclassified (wrongly attributed to other causes) during 2000-2001.

In April, the US Institute of Medicine published the results of an extensive review of data relating to the use of the drug nevirapine. It found that the drug was a safe and effective way to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and that news stories suggesting otherwise had distorted the facts.

"It is conceivable that thousands of babies will become infected with HIV and die if single-dose nevirapine for mother-to-infant HIV prevention is withheld because of misinformation." - National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases -68

Brazil turned down $40 million offered by PEPFAR because it refused to agree to a declaration condemning prostitution. The director of Brazil's HIV/AIDS programme said the government had taken the decision "in order to preserve its autonomy on issues related to national policies on HIV/AIDS as well as ethical and human rights principles"

A new set of international treatment figures were published by the WHO in June. They revealed that the 3 by 5 initiative was a long way off track, because only 970,000 people (15% of those in need) were receiving treatment, compared to a target of 1.6 million. The WHO admitted that it would be unlikely to achieve its goal of 3 million by the end of the year.

PEPFAR said it had exceeded one of its own targets by helping to provide treatment to 235,000 people in its focus countries by the end of March.71 The figure given for Botswana was disputed by the country's health officials. They said the US was claiming credit for helping thousands of people whose treatment had in fact been funded overwhelmingly by the Botswanan government.

Speaking at the 2005 National HIV Conference, the acting director of the CDC announced a new estimate of HIV prevalence in the USA. The CDC had calculated that between 1.039 million and 1.185 million Americans were living with HIV at the end of 2003, of whom 47% were black. One in four HIV-positive people did not know they were infected. Other studies presented at the conference showed that new infections among African Americans were rising, and the total number of new cases was remaining stable at around 40,000 per year.

In the UK at least, 2005 had been hailed as the ‘Year of Africa’ - the year in which real progress would be made towards relieving poverty and disease in that continent. The UK held the presidency of the European Union for the second half of the year, and in July the UK hosted the G8 (Group of Eight) summit of world leaders in Gleneagles, Scotland. Prime Minister Tony Blair promised that the main themes of the summit would be Africa and climate change. The meeting was preceded by massive "Live8" pop concerts around the world, and other events associated with the Make Poverty History campaign.

At the summit the leaders promised to double aid to Africa by 2010, and to cancel the debts of 18 poor countries, but no progress was made in improving trade justice, which many groups considered to be the most important issue. However, the leaders were praised for pledging to ensure as near as possible to universal access to antiretroviral treatment worldwide by 2010.

South Africa's latest antenatal clinic survey showed that 29.5% of pregnant women were HIV positive at the end of 2004. According to the report, the total number of people living with the virus had risen to an estimated 6.29 million - far more than in any other country.

Fifty-four people taking part in a Treatment Action Campaign rally were injured when police crushed their demonstration in Queenstown, South Africa, using rubber bullets and tear gas. The protesters had been campaigning about the need for more antiretroviral treatment. In Queenstown, just 190 people were receiving anti-HIV therapy at the time of the protest.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria in August suspended all grants to Uganda following concerns about possible corruption within the country's health ministry. Uganda's suspension was lifted in November, after an agreement was reached with the ministry over better financial management. Meanwhile the Fund announced its global AIDS programmes had exceeded targets for 2005.

By August, nine generic antiretroviral drugs had been approved by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However several African countries refused to allow the drugs to be imported until they had also been approved by the WHO.

PEPFAR's approach to HIV prevention (described as "ABC") came under increasingly heavy fire from commentators who said it was motivated by ideology, and was focusing too much on abstinence until marriage while downplaying the role of condoms. Among the fiercest critics were Stephen Lewis, the UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, and Professor Duff Gillespie, a public health expert and former senior USAID official. Two prominent US medical associations, the IDSA and the HIVMA, were also critical. However PEPFAR officials maintained that their approach to HIV prevention was balanced and based on evidence.

At the UN World Summit in September, the General Assembly followed the example set by the G8 leaders, by committing themselves to: "Developing and implementing a package for HIV prevention, treatment and care with the aim of coming as close as possible to the goal of universal access to treatment by 2010 for all those who need it."

Russian President Vladimir Putin promised that his country would allocate at least 20 times more money to fight HIV and AIDS in 2006 than it did in 2005. The President said that AIDS in Russia was a "serious problem", and that current spending of $5 million per year was "practically nothing for Russia on the scale of things".

In September the antiretroviral drug zidovudine (AZT) reached the end of its patent period in the US. This meant that any pharmaceutical company could now produce the drug legally and cheaply for the US market without having to pay royalties to the patent owner, GlaxoSmithKline. The FDA immediately approved four generic forms of AZT for sale within America.

Zimbabwe, one of the countries worst affected by AIDS, was suffering from a severe economic crisis made worse by droughts and the government's controversial land redistribution programme. One consequence was a sharp rise in the price of AIDS drugs in the public sector, from $7.70 per month in July to $46 per month in October. At the same time the state-run treatment programme was handicapped by a lack of foreign assistance, due to Western opposition to land reform and reported violence and intimidation during elections.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe was accused of further worsening the AIDS crisis in his country through his slum clearance campaign, which left thousands of families homeless. But UNAIDS announced that Zimbabwe's HIV prevalence rate had fallen over the previous five years, from around one in four to around one in five infected.90, 91

A London bus covered with hundreds of hand-written messages from campaigners appealing for universal access to AIDS treatment, on World AIDS Day 2005.

In 2005 skepticism about the cause of AIDS was still thriving in South Africa. The Democratic Alliance gave a list of the country's twelve most influential "AIDS dissidents" (people who question the theory that HIV causes AIDS), whom it said had an "ongoing and bizarrely powerful" influence on national HIV/AIDS policy. The list was headed by attorney Anthony Brink, the convenor and national chairperson of the Treatment Information Group and spokesperson for the Dr Rath Health Foundation, an organisation dedicated to promoting the use of vitamin supplements rather than antiretrovirals to treat AIDS. Also featured were President Thabo Mbeki and Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang.

In November, British man Andrew Stimpson caused a media frenzy when two newspapers suggested he had "cured himself" of HIV infection. However scientists were doubtful of this claim, and said it was more likely that he had never been infected in the first place, but had received a "false positive" antibody test result.

By late 2005, it was clear that the World Health Organisation's 3 by 5 plan would fail to achieve its goal of 3 million people on treatment in resource-poor countries by end of the year. With refreshing honesty, the head of the WHO's HIV/AIDS programme admitted as much and said sorry. "All we can do is apologise. I think we just have to admit we’ve not done enough and we started way too late." - Dr Jim Yong Kim -

However, Dr Kim said the initiative should certainly not be deemed a failure:

"Before Three by Five, there was not an emphasis on saving lives... Many leaders in the world were saying we just have to forget about this generation of people who are infected, we're really thinking about the next generation... So something has happened that's extraordinary."

The WHO estimated that expanded access to treatment had saved between 250,000 and 350,000 lives during 2005. However, their estimates also revealed there were more new HIV infections and more AIDS deaths in 2005 than in any previous year.

"2005 is likely to be remembered more for the 3 million deaths and almost 5 million new infections it heralded than for the 300 000 lives saved through treatment for HIV"

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2006 The world observes 25 Years of HIV with massive coverage of AIDS related stories in all media.

December 1, 2006 - AIDS World Day: "Positively Beautiful" exhibit by ASGCC clients-artists at the Cape Cod Mall in Hyannis and banners on Route 6.

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December 1, 2007 - AIDS World Day: ASGCC displays Provincetown Quilt at the Provincetown Theater. Front of the building covered in red fabric.

http://www.aidsmemorial.org/about_links.html
http://www.aegis.com/topics/timeline/
http://www.kff.org/hivaids/timeline/index.cfm

© 2008 AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod