Thread by @Matthew_Hodson

The first #AIDS case in the UK was reported in December 1981.
Three years later there were just over 100 cases, almost all of them among gay and bisexual men; over 40 of them had died.
At this point there wasn’t even confidence that condoms offered protection.
1/?

It was the 1980s.
Margaret Thatcher’s Tory Government was in power.
Homophobia in the UK was deeply entrenched. Many felt that the deaths of queers was of no concern.
It was unclear when, or if, the Government would take action. 2/

In 1987, with a still relatively small but significant number of cases observed among heterosexual people, the UK Government launched its first #AIDS campaign.
Billboards across the country proclaimed the message, ‘Don’t Die of Ignorance’. 3/

The posters were accompanied by TV and cinema ads, featuring icebergs and gravestones.
Every household in the country received a leaflet, containing information about how #HIV was passed on or what symptoms to watch out for. 4/

Volunteers at London’s Lesbian and Gay Switchboard (@switchboardLGBT) were surprised and unprepared to find themselves listed in the leaflet as a source for more #HIV information.
Here @alisapower talks about the chaos that ensued. 5/

The Switchboard volunteers scrambled to ensure that they had the resources to answer the huge volume of calls they were receiving with accurate and reliable information.
They built a folder of #HIV information, updating it as new scientific reports came in. 6/

This information was so valuable that they started to share it with other helplines, gay or straight, across the country.
This ringbound folder became the National AIDS Manual, later abbreviated to NAM.
The original folder was dedicated to Martin, one of many lost to #AIDS. 7/

35 years later NAM continues to provide independent, accurate and accessible information about HIV.
Now we reach millions of people living with #HIV, our healthcare providers and allies all around the world, through our website @aidsmap.
#NAMat35 8/
aidsmap.com/aidsmap

In those early days there were no effective treatments; now someone who is diagnosed promptly and has secure access to #HIV medications can expect to live for about as long as someone who does not have the virus. 9/
aidsmap.com/about-hiv/life…

In the 1980s condoms were cautiously advised as a way of preventing HIV transmission during sex (safer, not safe); now #PrEP, when taken correctly, offers near complete protection. 9/
aidsmap.com/about-hiv/pre-…

Effective treatment for #HIV was introduced in 1996.
Not only did it save lives but, by suppressing the virus in people with HIV it reduced the risk of sexual transmission to zero.
We call this #UequalsU. 10/
aidsmap.com/about-hiv/faq/…

More than 25 years since the introduction of effective treatment for #HIV (which saves lives and prevents transmission) we remain frustratingly far from the goal of ending the epidemic.
Last year 1.5 million people acquired HIV and 650k people died of HIV-related illness. 11/

Funding challenges, failures in healthcare systems further exacerbated by COVID, and the persistent prevalence of stigma means we remain frustratingly far from a time #HIV is no longer a threat to health or happiness. 12/
(Clip: #aidsmapCHAT with @susancolehaley from 2020)

Ending new #HIV transmissions in the UK by 2030 is ambitious but it is also achievable, with the right level of support and resource.
If everyone with HIV had secure access to treatment we could end new transmissions globally - a greater prize still. 13/

Due to great progress in medical science the end to the #HIV epidemic is imaginable.
Access to accurate, reliable information is central to this target; as essential now as when @aidsmap was founded 35 years ago.
There is no time for complacency. Meet the challenge.
/end