HIV and AIDS
A new virus kills 40 million people and transforms how medicine and activism work.
- When
- Era
- Contemporary, Holocene
Unusual infections in gay men are reported in 1981; HIV is identified in 1983. Around 40 million people have died and 40 million live with it. Antiretroviral combination therapy from 1996 turns it from fatal to manageable, and access to those drugs in Africa became a defining fight over patents and pricing. AIDS activism reshaped drug trial design, patient involvement in research, and regulatory approval processes permanently.