29 Years Later....

Hello Beauties, and happy new year to you all!

The year 2010 marks 29 years since the first recognized HIV diagnosis in the US. And, while there is no cure, there has still been an amazing amount of progress. Did you know that when AIDS was first discovered, a persons life expectancy was about 10 years? Now, a person living with the disease can live just as long as a person living without the disease. Let's look at some of the history of AIDS from the beginning:

1981-Young gay men in New York began developing a rare form of aggressive cancer that doctors at first believed to be Kaposi's Sarcoma (a type of tumor). At the same time, in New York and California, the number of cases of lung infections were increasing. The CDC formed a task force to battle these outbreaks. Although a number of theories were thrown around, doctors still weren't sure exactly what they were facing and why these diseases were so resistent to medication. They were also worried about possible transmission of the disease, but because these ailements were limted to gay males at the time, a statement was made from the CDC that there was no apparent danger to non homesexuals from contagion. Five months later, that statement was proven wrong when cases of the same diseases affecting gay males were found amongst intraveinous drug users.

1982-By the beginning of July 1982, a total of 452 AIDS cases had been reported to the CDC worldwide, 23 of them from the United States. Later that month, the first cases of the disease were reported in hemophilliacs. With this discovery, the anagram AIDS was created, as the number of cases outside of the gay community began to grow. (Before this, not so plesant names such as "gay cancer" were used). Public anxiety began to grow as news began to spread about the deadly disease.

1983-Amongst the public, the AIDS disease was thought to be suffered by Hatians, homosexuals, hemophilliacs, and addicts. However, cases amongst women with no other risk factors began popping up in doctors offices, as well as children. This promted a panic, as the public began worrying that AIDS was a bug that one could pass to another like the common cold. By October of this year, 2,803 AIDS cases had been reported in the US. By the end of the year, that number had increased to 3,064 and of those, 1,292 had died.

1985-In the US, parents began to keep their kids out of school from fear that they would be infected by a classmate. 13 year old Ryan White, a hemophilliac infected with AIDS through a blood transfusion, was banned from school. Actor Rock Hundson died from AIDS on October 3rd of that year. He was the first major public figure known to have died from the disease. By the end of this year, 15,948 AIDS cases had been reported.

1986-By the end of the year, 85 countries had a reported 38,401 cases of AIDS. 31,741 of them were in the Americas.

1987- In San Fransico, the first panel of the AIDS memorial quilt was made by gay rights activist Cleve Jones. In March of this year, AZT became the first approved drug to be used as treatment for AIDS. In England, Princess Diana opened the first AIDS hospital ward. By December, an estimated 5 to 10 million people were infected with HIV worldwide, and 71,751 were infected with AIDS worldwide.

1988-The first World AIDS day was celebrated on December 1st, 1988. The first HIV/AIDS education campaign was launched in the US.

1991-Magic Johnson announced that he had tested positive for HIV. In the UK, Freddie Mercury, lead singer of Queen announced that he had AIDS. One day later, it was annnounced that he had died. The red ribbon became an international symbol of AIDS awareness.

1993-Philadelphia, a movie portraying a young gay man with AIDS debuted. Tom Hanks, the leading character, later won an Oscar for his role.

1997-For the first time since the AIDS epidemic began, there was a drop in AIDS deaths in the US.

1998-5,000 volunteers participated in the first AIDS vaccine trial.

2000-The CDC reported that for the first time, latino and black men with HIV were at numbers above white gay males. Studies showed that African-Americans comprised of 57% of new infections.

2001-According to a CDC study of six large U.S. cities, 30% of young gay black men were infected with HIV.

2002-The FDA approved the first rapid-HIV test.

2004-President Bush's $15 billion initiative to combat the global AIDS pandemic, now known as PEPFAR (President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief), began full implementation in June. Women, Girls, HIV and AIDS was chosen as the theme of World AIDS Day 2004.

2006-Bono, a member of the rock band Sting, announced the creation of Product RED. The first one-a-day pill for effectively treating HIV infection was approved for sale in the USA.

Recent advances include the lift of the ban on HIV positive persons living in the US and the renewal of the Ryan White care act. With so much that has changed over the years, it's exciting to imagine what will happen next!