Thirty years of HIV/AIDS

Thirty years ago this June, an article reporting the first known cases of what we now call AIDS was published in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). Since then, extraordinary progress has been made in treating and preventing HIV, and annual new infections have fallen by more than two-thirds since the height of the epidemic. Despite this progress, too many people still become infected with and die from HIV in the U.S. Approximately 56,000 new infections occur each year, and more than 1.1 million people are living with HIV. As the number of people living with HIV grows, the potential for increased transmission of HIV to others grows too. Yet after three decades, the sense of crisis about HIV has waned. Many Americans underestimate their personal risk for infection, or believe HIV is no longer a serious health threat. We can’t afford to be complacent. The fact is that HIV is still a deadly disease — but we have the tools to prevent it.

Stephen B. Thacker CDC Library collection