The AIDS Epidemic
According to Hiv.gov and Avert.org the AIDS epidemic was announced by this article published in the summer of 1981. 41 cases of a rare and newly discovered cancer called Kaposi's Sarcoma had been discovered in 41 homosexual men. In June 1982, a group of cases among gay men in Southern California suggested that the cause of the immune deficiency was sexual and the syndrome was initially called gay-related immune deficiency. In September of 1982, it was officially labeled AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome). By 1983, after cases of AIDS found in female partners of men who had the disease were discovered it was suggested that AIDS could also be transmitted through heterosexual sex. Slowly over the next couple years cases were found in people (especially hemophiliacs) who had had blood transfusions and in babies whose mothers had contracted AIDS before giving birth. In 1984, they identified that what they had previously called LAV and HTLV-II (now known as HIV) was identified as the likely cause of AIDS. Bathhouses and private sex clubs in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York were closed due to high risk sexual activity, and over the course of the next twenty years global organizations tackled this wide-spread killer and helped to raise awareness for HIV and AIDS.
"In 1999, the WHO announced that AIDS was the fourth biggest cause of death worldwide and number one killer in Africa. An estimated 33 million people were living with HIV and 14 million people had died from AIDS since the start of the epidemic."
The timelines on both of my sources have entires leading up to 2017, meaning that AIDS is still a major issue and there are still major organizations making headway in this massive worldwide event.
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