Our History
A history of the HIV epidemic in the United States: the science, the policy, the advocacy, and AIDS United's role in the fight to end it.
A rare lung disease, pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), is identified by the CDC. It is the first official reporting of what will become known as the AIDS epidemic.
Bobbi Campbell becomes the first Kaposi sarcoma patient to go public, writing a newspaper column on living with “gay cancer.”
By year’s end, there is a cumulative total of 270 reported cases of severe immune deficiency among gay men, including 121 deaths.
Gay Men’s Health Crisis, the first community-based AIDS service provider in the U.S., is founded in New York City.
CDC uses the term “AIDS” (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) for the first time and releases the first case definition of AIDS.
CDC reports cases of AIDS in female sexual partners of men with AIDS.
CDC establishes the National AIDS Hotline to respond to public inquiries about the disease.
The CDC announces that injection drug use is a leading cause of AIDS transmission in the United States.
The U.S. Congress passes the first bill with specific funding ($12 million) for AIDS research and treatment.
Community-based AIDS service organizations join together to form AIDS Action, a national organization in Washington, D.C. and the predecessor to AIDS United, to advocate on behalf of people and communities affected by the epidemic.
The CDC states that avoiding injection drug use and reducing needle-sharing should be effective in preventing transmission of the virus.
Ryan White, an Indiana teenager who contracted AIDS through contaminated blood products used to treat his hemophilia, is refused entry to his middle school.
CDC reports that AIDS cases are disproportionately affecting African American and Latino children, who make up 90% of perinatally acquired AIDS cases.
FDA approves the first antiretroviral drug, zidovudine (AZT). The U.S. Congress approves $30 million in emergency funding for AZT, laying the groundwork for what will become the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP).
The National AIDS Fund, later AIDS United, was founded in 1988. From the beginning, the organization focused on the most disproportionately affected populations, including gay and bisexual men, communities of color, women, and people living in the South.
The U.S. Congress enacts the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act, providing $220.5 million in federal funds for HIV community-based care and treatment services in its first year.
The U.S. Institute of Medicine recommends that the government lift the ban on funding syringe services programs, finding they are effective at reducing HIV rates without increasing drug use. The CDC reaches a similar conclusion.
The Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS is formed, and the National Association of People With AIDS launches the first National HIV Testing Day.
500,000 cases of AIDS have been reported in the U.S.
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) begins operations, advocating for global action and coordination on the HIV epidemic.
HHS Secretary Donna Shalala endorses the scientific evidence backing syringe services programs and calls for lifting the federal funding ban, though the prohibition is ultimately maintained.
CDC issues the first national treatment guidelines for the use of antiretroviral therapy in adults and adolescents with HIV.
The HIV community recognizes the first annual National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day in the U.S.
The U.S. Congress authorizes the first $350 million for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
PEPFAR upholds the prohibition on federal funding for syringe services programs.
Dr. Julio Montaner pioneers the concept of treatment as prevention (TasP).
A study finds that people taking HIV treatment can expect to live into their 60s and beyond. A 20-year-old starting treatment can expect to live to 70.
Congress lifts the prohibition on federal funding for syringe services programs.
The U.S. Government officially lifts the HIV travel and immigration ban.
The Department of Health and Human Services issues implementation guidelines for using federal dollars for syringe services programs, and PEPFAR endorses syringe services programs.
Congress reinstates the prohibition on federal funding for syringe services programs.
The FDA approves the first at-home HIV test, letting users learn their HIV status right away.
The FDA approves the use of Truvada for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a milestone in HIV prevention.
The PARTNER study reports that no one with an undetectable viral load transmitted HIV across tens of thousands of instances of condomless sex.
Congress passes a partial repeal: federal money still cannot pay for sterile syringes, but can now fund other aspects of syringe services programs.
Indiana health officials announce an HIV outbreak linked to injection drug use in the southeastern part of the state; by year’s end Indiana confirms 184 new linked cases.
Dr. Carl Dieffenbach and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases confirm Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U), a transformative breakthrough in HIV science and advocacy.
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Ending the HIV epidemic in the United States through strategic grantmaking, capacity building, and policy advocacy.
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