GMHC Remembers 35th Anniversary of Start of AIDS Epidemic

This week, the Gay Men's Health Crisis took time to remember the start of the AIDS epidemic, 35 years ago, as well as the long-time HIV survivors that they serve with their Buddy Program, providing them access to services to aid with the isolation, depression, PTSD, and stigma.

On June 5, 1981, the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) published a brief account of five young gay men diagnosed with Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP), indicating signs of severely compromised immune systems. This was the beginning of AIDS awareness before it was even known as HIV and AIDS.�
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"For many, June 5, 1981 was just like any other day, but in a very short time frame everyone quickly realized that a CDC report about five young, otherwise healthy, gay men, was the beginning of something significant," said GMHC CEO Kelsey Louie. "This Sunday, it will be 35 years to the day that the world was first introduced to what would later be known as AIDS. Since the release of this report, 71 million people have been infected with HIV and about 34 million people have died of HIV."
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Today in America, HIV infection rates have stalled at 50,000 each year and we have approximately 1.2 million people living with HIV and AIDS. Louie said that looking back on all they accomplished together is equal parts heartbreaking and uplifting, remembering that "When we begged for help in the places that had the ability to provide assistance, the doors were closed because fear and hysteria ruled the day. Our response was simple; we will do it ourselves -- and we did."
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Gratefully, HIV and AIDS is no longer a death sentence for most people, and we can say 35 years later that we have the tools to end the epidemic. Yet just as we were 35 years ago, we are still in need of help, and it remains to be seen if our governments will provide the resources needed to finally end the epidemic once and for all, said Louie.

"GMHC is looking forward to the day when we can look back on the June 5 CDC report and be able to say that the epidemic is finally over. Until that day, our fight continues, and we are guided by those that left us too soon," he said.

The AIDS epidemic started in 1981, and the very next year, GMHC started a Buddy Program to help those dying from AIDS who were isolated and didn't have support from family to care for them. Buddies escorted clients to the hospital, medical appointments, and shopped for food and other household needs when clients became too weak to leave their homes.

"All of our success as a community was made possibly because of the tenacity and fighting spirit the long term survivors embodied during the darkest times," said Louie. "They taught us how to organize and fight when no one was willing to help. According to the CDC, people aged 55 and older accounted for over one-quarter of the estimated 1.2 million people living with HIV infection in the United States. HIV is no longer a death sentence, which means that our society has a duty to care for those with HIV as they age."

This is why GMHC relaunched our Buddy Program in 2015 to ensure that long term survivors are never forgotten and have access to services to aid with the isolation, depression, PTSD, and stigma. Most importantly, we remind long-term survivors that they matter, and that we are fully committed to helping them live their lives to the fullest.

Today honors some of the bravest Americans who have lived through the unthinkable and helped save countless lives because of their insistence on never giving up. As the world's first AIDS service organization, GMHC salutes our long terms survivors and together we will not only end the epidemic, but never give up on our collective goal of finding a cure.

Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) is the nation's leading provider of HIV and AIDS care, prevention services and advocacy, serving nearly 9,000 people living with and affected by HIV and AIDS in New York City, the epidemic's largest U.S. epicenter. As the world's first HIV and AIDS service organization, GMHC is an expert in providing services that every person affected by the epidemic deserves.

GMHC is on the front lines caring for people who are both HIV negative and positive, including: testing, nutrition, legal, mental health and education services. GMHC also advocates for stronger public policies at the local, state and federal level with the goal of ending AIDS as an epidemic in New York State by 2020. Most recently, GMHC and other HIV and AIDS organizations successfully persuaded the federal government to recommend widespread use of PrEP, a new daily treatment that is over 90 percent effective in preventing HIV infection.