Four decades of AIDS: A Timeline

Forty years ago this month the first men began dying of a mysterious disease in California that would later be identified asAIDS.

It would go on to claim millions of lives across the world.

Also Read |Surge in deaths due to HIV, tuberculosis and malaria amid coronavirus pandemic: Study

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Here is a look at the discovery and the fight against the deadly condition.

1981: First alert

In June 1981 US epidemiologists report five cases of a rare form of pneumonia in gay men from California, some of whom have died. Unusual versions of skin cancer are identified in others.

Also Read |HIV/AIDS vaccine: Why don’t we have one after 37 years, when we have several for COVID-19 after a few months?

It is the first alert about Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), still unknown and unnamed.

Doctors identify "opportunistic infections" among injected drug users late in the year and in haemophiliacs and Haitian residents in the United States (mid-1982).

The termAIDSappears for the first time in 1982.

1983: IdentifyingHIV

In January 1983 researchers in France, Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Jean-Claude Chermann, working under Luc Montagnier, identify the virus that "might be" responsible forAIDS.It is dubbed LAV.

The following year, US specialist Robert Gallo is said to have found the "probable" cause ofAIDS, the retrovirus HTLV-III.

Also Read |Argentina: Second person known to be naturally cured of HIV raises hopes for millions

The two viruses turn out to be one and the same, and in May 1986 it becomes officially known as the human immunodeficiency virus orHIV.

Barre-Sinoussi and Montagnier win a Nobel prize in 2008 for their discovery.

1987: Anti-retroviral treatment

In March 1987, the first anti-retroviral treatment known as AZT is authorized in the US. It is expensive and has many side effects.

Also Read |New trials for potential HIV vaccine show optimistic results

The World Health Organization (WHO) declares December 1, 1988, the first WorldAIDSDay, to raise awareness. By June the following year, the number ofAIDScases worldwide is estimated at more than 150,000.

The early 1990s: Falling stars

US actor Rock Hudson is the first high-profileAIDSdeath in October 1985. A host of other stars succumb to the disease, including British singer and Queen frontman Freddie Mercury (November 1991) and the legendary Russian dancer and choreographer Rudolf Nureyev (January 1993).

Also Read |HIV self-test prices to be slashed in half in 135 countries

In 1994,AIDSbecomes the leading cause of death among Americans aged between 25 and 44.

1995-96: New approach

A new class of drugs signals the start of combinations of different anti-retroviral therapies.

Also Read |In tell-all interview, Billy Porter reveals he's had HIV since 14 years

Called tri-therapies, they provide the first effective treatment forHIValthough they are not a cure and remain costly.

1996 is the first year in which the number ofAIDSdeaths declines in the US.

1999: 50 million infections

A report released by WHO and the Joint United Nations Programme onAIDS(UNAIDS) in November 1999 estimates the number of people infected withHIVsince it first appeared at 50 million, of whom 16 million have died.

Also Read |'How can she have HIV?': Pakistan town struggles with surge in infections

Africa is the hardest-hit continent, with 12.2 million cases.

2003: Life-saving PEPFAR

In February 2003, US President George W. Bush launches the President's Emergency Plan forAIDSRelief, or PEPFAR, to combat the spread ofAIDSin 15 of the hardest-hit areas of Africa and the Caribbean.

With an initial budget of $15 billion over its first five years, PEPFAR had by 2018 committed $70 billion to theAIDSresponse.

2009: The 'Berlin Patient'

The first known patient cured ofHIVis announced. The "Berlin Patient," later named American Timothy Brown, underwent two transplants of bone marrow containing a mutation of a gene that blocksHIVfrom attacking host cells.

Also Read |'The Berlin patient' - First person to be cured of HIV dies due to cancer

He underwent total body irradiation to treat leukaemia and nearly did not survive the process.

2012:HIV'shield'

In July 2012 the first-ever daily pill to help preventHIVinfection is approved by US regulators. Truvada is pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, taken by high-risk people who areHIV-negative in order to prevent them from being infected.

2017: Treatment spreads

For the first time ever, more than half of the global population living withHIVare receiving antiretroviral treatment, UNAIDS reports.

2019: The 'London Patient'

The second patient with sustainedHIVsuppression is reported after undergoing a transplant of stem cells with the same mutation as in the Berlin case.

Regular testing has confirmed that the patient's viral load remained undetectable for 19 months and counting.

2021: Vaccine hopes

Success in producing an anti-Covid vaccine in 2020 fuels hopes that a breakthrough in securing a shot againstHIVmight finally be in the offing.

Moderna in January announced it has started phase one clinical trials of flu andHIVvaccines using its messenger RNA technique.

There are 37.6 million people living withHIVglobally, according to UNAIDS in its latest annual figures for 2020. Since the start of the epidemic 34.7 million have died fromAIDS-related illnesses.