AIDS crisis

  • Robert Lee Rayford

    Robert Lee Rayford
    16 year old boy dies from HIV related causes, this is allegedly the first known AIDS death in the US
  • Grethe Rask Dies

    Grethe Rask Dies
    Grethe Rask, a Danish physician and surgeon who spent years working in the Congo, dies of pneumonia. Ten years after her death, a blood test finds she was infected with HIV.
  • Newspaper press

    Newspaper press
    The New York Times article “Rare Cancer Seen in 41 Homosexuals” leads to the coining of the term “gay cancer” to describe Kaposi’s Sarcoma.
  • Fundraising

    Fundraising
    Film producer Larry Kramer hosts a fundraiser in his New York City apartment, at which Dr. Friedman-Kien addresses a crowd of gay men. He raises $6,635 to fund research for this unknown disease.
  • AIDS

    AIDS
    The CDC uses the term “AIDS” for the first time - Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
  • First Clinic for People with Aids

    First Clinic for People with Aids
    Ward 86, the world’s first dedicated outpatient clinic for people with AIDS, opens at San Francisco General Hospital.
  • AIDS in Women

    AIDS in Women
    The CDC reports the first cases of AIDS in women.
  • New York Times

    New York Times
    The New York Times publishes its first front-page article on AIDS.
    (https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/25/us/health-chief-calls-aids-battle-no-1-priority.html)
  • President Raegan

    President Raegan
    President Reagan signs the first comprehensive federal AIDS bill, the Health Omnibus Programs Extension (HOPE) Act. This authorizes federal funds for AIDS testing and research.
  • AIDS day

    AIDS day
    The White House prepares for World AIDS Day 2011.