The Journal

Issue date: 11/30/06 Section: AIDS awareness day at Webster

HIV and AIDS is a worldwide epidemic. AIDS has claimed more than 25 million lives worldwide and over 500,000 lives in the United States alone. Currently, one million people in the United States have AIDS, and the Center for Disease Control estimates 40,000 will contract HIV in 2006. There is no cure for the syndrome, and once HIV is acquired, AIDS is inevitable. HIV and AIDS are a relevantly recent discovery made in 1981 and, while AIDS is decreasing in the United States, it is becoming rampant in places like Africa.

June 5, 1981: The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, published by the Center for Disease Control, disclosed a report of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in five seemingly healthy homosexual men in Los Angeles (PCP is now known as Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia). PCP is an infection of the lung caused by a common fungal organism Pneumocystis carinii that does not cause illness in healthy individuals. The CDC later determined this to be the first AIDS cases in the United States, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

1982: The CDC established the term Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome and its four risk factors at that time: male homosexuality, intravenous drug use (use of needles), Haitian origin and hemophilia A (a disorder that prevents the blood from clotting).

1984: Luc Montagnier of the Pasteur Institute and Robert Gallo of the National Cancer institute discovered HIV in 1984.

1985: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration licensed the first HIV test that detects HIV antibodies in blood.

1987: The FDA approved azidothymidine or AZT, an antiviral drug, for the treatment of AIDS.

1990: The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibited discrimination against individuals with disabilities, including those with HIV or AIDS.

1992: AIDS officially became the No. 1 cause of death for men ages 25 to 44 in the United States.

1993: Before 1993, the only research on HIV and AIDS was done on homosexual males. This year, the first two federally funded studies on HIV/AIDS and women began: the Women's Interagency HIV Study and HIV Epidemiology Study. Also, Congress enacted the National Institute of Health Revitalization Act, requiring all research agencies to include women and minorities in HIV/AIDS research.

1996: The number of new AIDS cases in the United States decreased for the first time since 1981. The number of AIDS diagnoses and deaths has continued to decrease. In 2004, the number of diagnosed cases was 42,514 compared to 61,124 in 1996. The number of AIDS-related deaths in 2004 was 15,798; whereas, in 1996 the number of deaths was 38,074, according to AVERT, an international HIV and AIDS charity based in the United Kingdom.

1998: First large-scale human trial began for HIV vaccine.

2000: President Clinton issued an Executive Order to assist developing countries in importing and producing generic forms of HIV treatments. The Global AIDS and Tuberculosis Act of 2000 introduced $600 million in U.S. global aid against the spread of HIV and AIDS.
2002: UNAIDS, a facet of the United Nations dedicated to stopping the spread of HIV and AIDS, reported that half of those living with HIV/AIDS worldwide are women. Also that year, AIDS-related diseases became the leading cause of death for those ages 15 to 59.

2003: President Bush announced the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS relief, a five-year, $15 billion (initiative) for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria aid in places where the syndrome are most rampant. The first round of funding began in 2004.

2005: The World Health Organization, UNAIDS, the U.S. government and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria report that antiretroviral drugs have reached over 700,000 people in developing countries by the end of 2004.

June 5, 2006: Marks the 25th anniversary of the first AIDS cases.

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The Red Ribbon

In 1991, a group of New York artists known as Visual AIDS created the red ribbon. Visual AIDS chose red because the color symbolizes love, compassion and tolerance; blood, for the pain of those who have died; anger, for the helplessness felt because there is no cure; and as a warning to not ignore the syndrome, according to http://redribbon.de, a Web site offered by Artists About AIDS

The AIDS red ribbon has become synonymous with World AIDS Day. The red ribbon was created as a visual way to raise awareness and show support for those infected with HIV or AIDS.

The ribbon made its debut at the 1991 Tony Awards in New York City. Volunteers with Visual AIDS sent red ribbons and letters to everyone who attended the ceremony, but actor Jeremy Irons was one of only a few celebrities who wore the ribbon.

Soon after, the red ribbon became a widely visible symbol of solidarity for those suffering from the syndrome. People wore ribbons on their shirts and hats, and small enamel ribbons were made into pins and earrings. The image was printed on coffee mugs and T-shirts. People wore the ribbon to show support of those living with HIV and AIDS and support for a cure.

Dec 1 people worldwide will hold events in honor of those who have lost their lives to AIDS, raise awareness to stop the spread of HIV and AIDS and make drug treatments available to everyone with the virus or syndrome.

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