HIV AIDS INFORMATION

In July 1981, the New York Times reported an outbreak of a rare form of cancer among gay men in New York and California, first referred to as the 'gay cancer' but medically know as Kaposi Sarcoma. About the same time, Emergency Rooms in New York City began to see a rash of seemingly healthy young men presenting with fevers, flu like symptoms, and a pneumonia called Pneumocystis. About a year later, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) link the illness to blood and coins the term AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). In that first year over 1600 cases are diagnosed with close to 700 deaths.

Unfortunately, the AIDS epidemic continues today in Africa and much of Asia, where antiretroviral therapy is not available and health care is seriously inadequate. Over 95% of AIDS cases and deaths occur outside the United States.

AIDS is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide, the #1 cause of death due to infectious disease, and has surpassed malaria as the #1 killer in Africa. There are more than 2.2 million AIDS cases reported worldwide, and 33.6 million people are living with HIV/AIDS. More than 16 million people have died from AIDS. It caused 2.6 million deaths in 1999. According to the National Institutes of Health more than 3 million people will die from AIDS in 2000.