Aids

AIDS Death Toll Reaches 25,000: Reagan Administration Inaction Continues

1987-01-01 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

By early 1987, over 25,000 Americans have died of AIDS-related illnesses, yet President Reagan has still not delivered a major public address on the epidemic despite six years of crisis. Reagan does not give his first comprehensive AIDS speech until May 1987, by which time the death toll exceeds …

Ronald Reagan AIDS patients LGBTQ community Public health officials ACT UP aids public-health reagan lgbtq government-negligence +1 more

Koop Releases AIDS Report After Five-Year Delay: Public Health vs Politics

1986-10-22 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 7/10

Surgeon General C. Everett Koop releases “The Surgeon General’s Report on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome” after being muzzled by the Reagan administration for five years. The groundbreaking 36-page report provides frank, explicit guidance on AIDS prevention including …

C. Everett Koop Ronald Reagan Department of Health and Human Services aids c-everett-koop public-health surgeon-general sex-education

Rock Hudson Dies of AIDS: Reagan Forced to Finally Acknowledge Crisis

1985-10-02 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 8/10

Hollywood icon Rock Hudson dies at age 59 of AIDS complications, becoming the first major U.S. celebrity to die of the disease and forcing President Reagan to finally acknowledge the epidemic publicly. Hudson’s death marks a turning point: Reagan had maintained complete public silence on AIDS …

Rock Hudson Ronald Reagan Nancy Reagan C. Everett Koop aids rock-hudson reagan public-health lgbtq +1 more

AIDS Epidemic Begins: Reagan Administration Maintains Years of Deadly Silence

1981-06-05 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

The CDC publishes the first report on unusual immune system failures in five previously healthy gay men in Los Angeles, marking the medical recognition of what becomes the AIDS epidemic. President Ronald Reagan’s administration responds with years of complete public silence while the epidemic …

Ronald Reagan Centers for Disease Control C. Everett Koop Larry Speakes aids public-health reagan lgbtq epidemic +1 more

Reagan Administration Muzzles Surgeon General Koop on AIDS for Five Years

1981-01-01 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 8/10

The Reagan administration prohibits Surgeon General C. Everett Koop from publicly addressing the emerging AIDS epidemic from 1981 through early 1986, demonstrating deliberate suppression of public health information during a catastrophic disease outbreak. Journalists receive advance instructions …

C. Everett Koop Ronald Reagan Department of Health and Human Services aids c-everett-koop censorship public-health reagan +1 more