Did you grow up in a world without red ribbons, AZT, the AIDS Memorial Quilt, or Project Red? If you did, chances are good that you came of age before 1981 and are a member of the last generation of humans on this planet to be able to say that you remember those ‘carefree days when all you had to worry about was getting pregnant, herpes, and a bad reputation’ (AID Atlanta).
On June 5, 1981 the CDC released a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report describing the first five cases of what later became known as the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or AIDS. On that day human history broke into two generations: Those who can remember a time before the AIDS pandemic and those who can't.
No matter what generation you grew up in, what we all have in common is a curiosity about AIDS. Where did it come from? Why is it so widespread? Are we making progress towards a vaccine? What is it like to be part of a vaccine trial? Has anyone ever been cured of HIV infection? Are some people just naturally more or less susceptible to HIV than other people are?
All of this and more will be covered in AIDS. Over the course of nine weeks we will discuss a wide range of issues, innovations, and controversies regarding HIV/AIDS in the US and around the world including everything from what circumcision and Truvada have in common; how school children in Africa are changing the way AIDS education is done; where you can go online to learn how many cases of AIDS there are in your area; and how one man’s insistence that AIDS doesn't exist left hundreds of thousands of people without access to life saving drugs.
