25 Years of AIDS.

In June 1981, scientists in the United States reported the first clinical evidence of a disease that would later become known as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or AIDS. Twenty-five years later, the AIDS epidemic has spread to every corner of the world. Around 40 million people today are living with HIV and over 25 million have died of the disease. But years of struggle to control the epidemic have also yielded a growing list of breakthroughs.

1959

* The oldest specimen of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) ever detected in a blood sample--donated by a man in Leopoldville, Congo.

1981

* The first cases of unusual immune system failures are identified among gay men, women and injecting drug users.

1982

* AIDS is defined for the first time. In the course of the year, the three modes of transmission are identified: blood, mother-to-child and sexual intercourse.

1983

* Dr. Luc Montagnier in France isolates lymphadenopathy-associated virus (LAV), later to become known as human immunodeficiency virus or HIV.

* A heterosexual AIDS epidemic is revealed in Central Africa.

1984

* Dr. Robert Gallo in the United States identifies HIV as the cause of AIDS.

1985

* The global scope of the growing epidemic becomes manifest. By 1985, at least one case of HIV has been reported in each region of the world.

* The first HIV antibody tests are commercialized in the United States and in Europe, and HIV screening of blood donations begins.

* More than 2,000 people attend the first international conference on AIDS in Atlanta.

* A clinical case definition of AIDS is developed for developing countries at a World Health Organization (WHO) workshop on AIDS in Bangui, Central African Republic.

* American film star Rock Hudson becomes the first international icon to disclose he has AIDS.

1986

* The International Steering Committee for People with HIV/AIDS is created--later to become the Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+).

1987

* Africa's first community-based response to AIDS (The AIDS Support Organisation or TASO) is formed in Uganda. It becomes a role model for similar groups around the world.

* In February, WHO establishes the Special Programme on AIDS.

* AIDS becomes the first disease ever debated on the floor of the United Nations General Assembly.

* The first therapy for AIDS--azidothymidine (AZT)--is approved for use in the United States.

1988

* The International AIDS Society is founded--an organization of professionals working on...