HIV/AIDS Pandemic (Peak years, 2005-2012)
Estimated deaths: 36 million
Many people of a certain age probably remember this photo. It was this image of a young man lying on his bed surrounded by family as his life slipped away that seemed to capture the emotions of the time. It represented the fear and the sorrow of a disease that was badly misunderstood and had affected the social behaviors of entire societies across the globe. The first reported cases of what would eventually be called the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS, was first documented in 1981. Since then tens of millions of people across the planet have been infected by the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV.
In the beginning of the disease, very little was known about how it was spread. Treatment became difficult as those who were infected were shunned by society and even by the medical community to an extent. In the United States, it had the misnomer of being called the “gay plague” and other misguided stereotypes. Sympathy and awareness began to grow as celebrities either spoke out to help those infected by HIV, like Elton John, or contracted the virus themselves and became symbols for hope and perseverance, like NBA star Earvin “Magic” Johnson in 1991. However, the one major effort that probably made the most difference in the fight against AIDS was the implementation of the $15 billion President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in 2004 under President George W. Bush. It was this effort that had made the biggest governmental monetary commitment to address the AIDS pandemic.
As medical research continued, a new understanding of how the virus was transmitted helped to educate people around the new world and new drugs, such as anti-retroviral (ARV) medication, began to be approved to help those infected with HIV to continue to live normal lives. However, the disease continues to be a pervasive problem in many parts of the world – particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where the prevalence rate is about 5% of the total adult population. There, poor medical infrastructure, stigma against those infected, and even AIDS denialist, allowed the disease to spread rapidly. Thabo Mbeki, South Africa’s president in the early 2000s, gained infamy for his denial of the AIDS crisis. By 2005, 5.5 million South Africans were infected with HIV – or about 12% of the population at the time. Hopefully, new research and government support will one day eradicate this pandemic which still haunts us today.
