African American HIV/AIDS Timeline

African Americans and HIV/AIDS

A Call To Action

1969 – An African -American teenager from St. Louis died of AIDS-like symptoms. HIV or a closely related virus was found in tissue samples from the young man that had been frozen at the time of his death. This case indicates that HIV was present in the United States before the 1970s.

1981 – Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced first reports of AIDS.

1982 – Missouri Department of Health began AIDS reporting, first case is reported in St. Louis, MO.
CDC reports that 37 cases of AIDS-related pneumonia have occurred among African Americans.

1983 – CDC's surveillance data that AIDS was disproportionately affecting African Americans. At that time, African Americans accounted for 26% of all AIDS cases, yet represented only 13% of the U.S. population.

1984 – HIV is identified as the cause of AIDS June 1984: CDC reports that 50% of all pediatric AIDS cases are among African Americans.

1985 – Ryan White, 13, diagnosed with AIDS, fights to attend school.

1986 – Surgeon General C. Everett Koop urges parents and schools to begin “frank open discussion” about AIDS.

1987 – CDC reported that the ratio of AIDS case incidence is 12.0 to 1 for blacks, and 9.3 to 1 for Hispanics as compared with whites. Even among homosexual and bisexual men and among IV drug users, blacks appear to have higher HIV antibody prevalence rates than whites.

1988 – The first World AIDS Day: “A World United Against AIDS,” December 1st.

1989 – CDC begins direct funding for community-based organizations serving African Americans to help close gaps in access to HIV prevention services in under-served communities.

1990 – Ryan White dies.

1991 – Majic Johnson announces that he is living with HIV.

1992 – Arthur Ashe confirms he has AIDS.
Newly elected President Clinton makes AIDS a national agenda.

1993 – Arthur Ashe dies.
CDC reports that HIV has become the leading cause of death for African-American men, ages 25-44, and the second leading cause of death for African-American women in the same age range.

1994 – Food and Drug Administration approves OraSure® testing.

1995 – First Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS.
Eric Wright a.k.a Eazy-E died of AIDS.

1996 – Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) is created.

1997 – CDC report that African Americans exceed for the first time the proportion of whites reported with AIDS.

1998 – President Bill Clinton issued a call to action that stated as a goal the elimination of racial and ethnic disparities in health in six targeted areas. One of these areas is HIV/AIDS.

1999 – St. Louis and Kansas City declare “A State of Emergency on HIV/AIDS among African Americans.”

2000 – The Governor’s Taskforce on HIV/AIDS in the African American Community released the HIV/AIDS Emergency Response Plan in the African American Community.

BET launched RAP-IT-UP® is a call to action, grassroots HIV/AIDS awareness campaign designed to address the epidemic in the African American community. RAP-IT-UP® seeks to help African American children and families protect against HIV/AIDS related illnesses and diminish the incidences of HIV/AIDS, especially in those areas most ravaged by the disease.

1st National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, February 7th.

2001 – Sixty-two young people representing 26 countries present a Youth Position Paper calling on world leaders to address youth issues relating to HIV.

2002 – “Live and let live” – the theme of World AIDS Day focuses on eliminating the stigma and discrimination, the major obstacles to effective HIV/AIDS prevention and care.

MTV launched “Fight for Your Rights: Protect Yourself,” a public education campaign to inform young people about sexual health issues, including HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

2003 – Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Office of Surveillance, stated, “Blacks are disproportionately represented among HIV and AIDS cases. Although blacks make up only about 11% of Missouri’s population, they accounted for 43.0% of HIV cases and 44.4% of AIDS cases reported in 2002.”
Gene Anthony Ray, “LeRoy” of the 1980 Academy Award winning movie “Fame” died of AIDS.

2004 – KNOW HIV/AIDS broadcasted an HIV-related public service announcement during Super Bowl XXXVIII.