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39 years ago today
Note: this article does not represent the “start” of the AIDS epidemic nor does it — as we know now — accurately capture the scope of who can be affected by HIV/AIDS or even who was at that time
It’s possible there was an AIDS-related death in the US as early as 1959: https://academic.oup.com/ajcp/article-abstract/35/4/353/1762854?redirectedFrom=fulltext
The HIV/AIDS epidemic isn’t “over,” as is so often erroneously claimed... https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/06/magazine/americas-hidden-hiv-epidemic.html
HIV continues to disproportionately affect marginalized populations https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/wr/mm6818a3.htm?s_cid=mm6818a3_w
Racial and economic justice are tied to reducing HIV incidence in the US. Racism, transphobia, homophobia, and other drivers of systemic inequity are public health issues and emergencies
HIV prevention drugs continue to be prohibitively expensive https://slate.com/human-interest/2018/05/act-up-is-challenging-gilead-to-make-truvada-more-accessible.html
And Gilead is hoping to continue turning profit at the expense of human lives going forward https://slate.com/human-interest/2020/02/descovy-truvada-prep-gilead-status-competition.amp
(Gilead is also the company pricing Remdesivir — which can aid in COVID-19 recovery — as high as $3,120 for a five-day course)
The same goes for HIV treatment https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2759735
7% of people living with HIV in the US are nonadherent to treatment (ie, not taking medication) because they CANT AFFORD IT. Pharma greed is one of the drivers of this. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/wr/mm6849a1.htm
Even 39 years after this New York Times article, the work to end HIV in the United States is not over.
