San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday, June 4, 2006

Medical

-- On June 5, the CDC reports five cases in Los Angeles of a rare pneumonia among five gay men.

-- In July, the CDC reports 26 cases of a rare cancer, Kaposi's sarcoma, among gay men in New York and California.

Political

-- New York author Larry Kramer organizes fundraiser for what is to become Gay Men's Health Crisis.

San Francisco

-- The Chronicle publishes its first story about the epidemic on June 6.

1982

Political

-- Activists launch the Kaposi's Sarcoma Foundation, later to become the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

-- First U.S. congressional hearings are held on the epidemic by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles.

Medical

-- In September, CDC labels the new disease acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS.

-- In San Francisco, an estimated 6,000 are newly infected.

1983

Political

-- Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, D-San Francisco, secures $2.9 million for UC AIDS researchers.

-- The Orphan Drug Act is signed into law, encouraging pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs for rare diseases.

Medical

-- Reports surface of a heterosexual epidemic of AIDS in central Africa.

-- French researcher Dr. Luc Montagnier isolates from AIDS patients a novel retrovirus he labels LAV.

San Francisco

-- First AIDS candlelight memorial.

1984

San Francisco

-- San Francisco Department of Public Health orders closure of bathhouses as gay sex venues.

Medical

-- Dr. Robert Gallo at National Cancer Institute isolates virus now thought to be a lab contaminant from samples of Montagnier's LAV. Gallo develops blood test.

-- UCSF virologist Dr. Jay Levy reports isolation of a similar virus from San Francisco patients and calls it ARV. He creates blood test used by local doctors.

1985

Political

-- Health and Human Services Secretary Margaret Heckler predicts AIDS vaccine in two years.

Political

-- First International AIDS Conference convenes in Atlanta.

Medical

-- FDA approves the first commercial AIDS antibody test.

People

-- Rock Hudson discloses he has AIDS in July. He dies in October.

-- Ryan White, an Indiana teen with AIDS who was barred from school, speaks out against stigma.

1986

Medical

-- First controlled study of antiviral drug AZT begins.

Political

-- Surgeon General C. Everett Koop's report on AIDS calls for education and condom use.

-- National Academy of Science criticizes government response to AIDS, calls for $2 billion research investment.

San Francisco

-- First panel of AIDS memorial quilt is created is by San Francisco activist Cleve Jones.

1987

San Francisco

-- Chronicle reporter Randy Shilts publishes "And the Band Played On," the definitive history of the early years of the AIDS epidemic.

Medical

-- FDA approves AZT, the first antiviral drug against AIDS. High price prompts formation of ACT UP, and protests gain a price reduction.

Political

-- World Health Organization launches Global Program on AIDS.

-- U.S. adds HIV infection to "dangerous contagious diseases" list used to bar HIV-positive foreign visitors and immigrants.

People

-- Liberace dies of AIDS.

1988

San Francisco

-- San Francisco establishes largest needle-exchange program in the United States.

Medical

-- Studies show condom use effective in preventing transmission of HIV.

Political

-- Surgeon General Koop mails 107 million copies of "Understanding AIDS" brochure to American households.

-- FDA permits importation, for personal use, of unapproved AIDS drugs.

-- Studies show women account for half of AIDS cases in sub-Saharan Africa.

1989

People

-- Photographer Robert Mapplethorpe dies of AIDS.

Political

-- AIDS activists protest cost of drugs at AZT-maker Burroughs-Wellcome headquarters and on Golden Gate Bridge. Price for AZT cut by 20 percent.

Medical

-- CDC offers guidelines for treatment of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, the leading killer of AIDS patients.

1990

People

-- Ryan White dies at age 18.

-- Pop artist Keith Haring dies.

-- Florida woman Kimberly Bergalis, allegedly infected by her dentist, prompts national debate over treatment by HIV-positive health care workers.

Political

-- Congress enacts the Ryan White CARE Act but appropriates only $350 million of $881 million authorized.

Medical

-- U.S. AIDS deaths surpass 100,000.

San Francisco

-- Sixth International AIDS Conference held in San Francisco, boycotted by protesters against travel and immigration bans.

1991

People

-- NBA star Magic Johnson announces he is HIV-positive, retires from basketball.

-- Freddie Mercury, lead singer of the rock band Queen, dies of AIDS.

Medical

-- A second antiviral drug, ddI, is approved by the FDA.

Political

-- Housing assistance for people with AIDS is approved by Congress.

-- Health care unions campaign for safer needles at San Francisco General Hospital.

1992

Medical

-- AIDS becomes leading cause of death in the United States for men ages 25 to 44.

-- FDA begins "accelerated approval" process and registers a third antiviral drug, ddC.

People

-- HIV-positive artist Mary Fisher addresses Republican National Convention.

-- Tennis star Arthur Ashe announces he has AIDS.

San Francisco

-- San Francisco study projects 21,000 AIDS deaths by 1998.

1993

People

-- Tony Kushner's "Angels in America" wins Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize.

-- Ballet star Rudolf Nureyev dies of AIDS.

San Francisco

-- AIDS deaths in San Francisco surpass 10,000.

-- San Francisco threatens to close private sex clubs that do not enforce condom use.

1994

Medical

-- Study shows AZT given to pregnant women and newborns reduces mother-to-child transmission by 70 percent.

-- AIDS becomes leading cause of death for all Americans ages 25 to 44.

-- World Health Organization estimates 19.5 million have been infected with HIV.

San Francisco

-- Randy Shilts dies of AIDS.

People

-- Elisabeth Glaser, co-founder of Pediatric AIDS Foundation, dies of AIDS.

-- MTV star Pedro Zamora dies of AIDS at age 22.

1995

Medical

-- Bay Area AIDS activist Jeff Getty receives baboon bone marrow transplant. The experimental treatment fails.

-- FDA approves saquinavir, the first protease inhibitor.

Political

-- President Clinton hosts White House summit on AIDS.

People

-- Olympic Gold Medal diver Greg Louganis discloses he is HIV-positive.

-- Rap artist Eazy-E (Eric Wright) dies of AIDS.

1996

Medical

-- 11th International AIDS Conference in Vancouver heralds success of three-drug combination "cocktail."

-- FDA approves "viral load" test that measures level of HIV in the bloodstream.

People

-- New York AIDS specialist Dr. David Ho is named Time Magazine's Man of the Year.

Political

-- Brazil becomes first developing country to offer antiviral drugs nationwide.

1997

Medical

-- AIDS-related deaths decline by 40 percent, largely credited to three-drug therapy.

-- California records its 100,000th AIDS case.

Political

-- President Clinton calls for development of AIDS vaccine by 2007.

-- WHO boosts estimate of those living with HIV to 30.6 million.

1998

Political

-- African Americans account for 49 percent of U.S. AIDS deaths. Black leaders declare state of emergency.

-- Congress OKs payments to hemophiliacs infected by blood products.

Medical

-- First large-scale trials for an AIDS vaccination begin.

-- Signs emerge of treatment failure and side effects from drug cocktail.

People

-- International AIDS expert Dr. Jonathan Mann is killed in plane crash.

1999

People

-- Reggie Williams, founder of National Task Force on AIDS Prevention, dies of AIDS.

Medical

-- One-third of new infections in U.S. found among women.

-- First large-scale vaccine trial in developing country begins in Thailand.

-- Research in Africa suggests circumcision dramatically lowers HIV risk.

-- Congressional hearings on HIV in Latino community.

2000

Medical

-- For the first time, AIDS diagnoses among black and Latino gay men exceed those of whites in the U.S.

-- First microbicide trial fails. Nonoxynol-9 contraceptive gel increases risk in African tests.

Political

-- 13th International AIDS Conference convenes in Durban, while South African president Thabo Mbeki continues to cast doubt that HIV is cause of AIDS.

San Francisco

-- San Francisco's estimated HIV infections double as safer sex practices fade.

2001

Political

-- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan calls for creation of a $7 billion to $10 billion annual fund to fight AIDS.

-- Bush administration promotes abstinence-only HIV-prevention programs.

-- World Trade Organization in Doha, Qatar, authorizes poor countries to buy generic AIDS drugs.

-- Major drug companies slash prices for AIDS medications sold in developing countries.

Medical

-- FDA approves antiviral drug tenofovir.

San Francisco

-- Study predicts 42 percent of HIV patients in San Francisco will carry drug-resistant viruses by 2005.

2002

Medical

-- Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is formed. UCSF professor Richard Feachem to head it.

-- UNAIDS finds that women represent half of all adults living with HIV.

-- FDA approves rapid test for HIV, delivering results in 20 minutes.

-- CDC estimates 850,000 Americans are living with HIV; 1 in 4 of them don't know it.

Political

-- Activists disrupt Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson's speech at 14th International AIDS Conference in Barcelona.

2003

Political

-- President Bush announces $15 billion, five-year overseas AIDS relief program.

-- William J. Clinton Foundation negotiates price reductions from generic AIDS drugmakers.

Medical

-- First large-scale trial of an AIDS vaccine by South San Francisco's VaxGen fails.

-- World Health Organization begins a program to bring AIDS drugs to 3 million people in poor countries by the end of 2005.

2004

Political

-- UNAIDS launches Global Coalition on Women and AIDS.

-- Seven of nine California districts receive cuts in Ryan White funds.

-- U.S. Global AIDS coordinator Randall Tobias is jeered at 15th International AIDS Conference in Bangkok.

-- Bush administration offers a quick review of generic AIDS drugs for overseas use.

2005

People

-- Nelson Mandela announces his oldest son, Makgatho, 54, has died of AIDS.

Political

-- Irish rock star and AIDS activist Bono lobbies G-8 leaders for debt relief and doubling of foreign aid to Africa.

San Francisco

-- San Francisco and New York report puzzling rate of false positives in oral HIV test.

2006

San Francisco

-- San Francisco officials say HIV infection rates are down by 20 percent among gay men since 2001.

Political

-- California lawmakers approve plan to report new HIV cases to state by name.

Medical

-- Scientists report promising results for new class of AIDS drugs called integrase inhibitors.

-- In late May, UNAIDS chief Dr. Peter Piot reports declines in HIV infection rates in several African nations.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The toll on humanity

Annual global deaths estimated by UNAIDS and the World Health Organization were released May 30. Accurate totals before 1985, when UNAIDS and WHO started tracking the crisis globally, are unknown.

1981 -- Not known

1982 -- Not known

1983 -- Not known

1984 -- Not known

1985 -- 26,000

1986 -- 49,000

1987 -- 84,000

1988 -- 130,000

1989 -- 200,000

1990 -- 280,000

1991 -- 380,000

1992 -- 500,000

1993 -- 640,000

1994 -- 810,000

1995 -- 1,000,000

1996 -- 1,200,000

1997 -- 1,400,000

1998 -- 1,600,000

1999 -- 1,800,000

2000 -- 2,100,000

2001 -- 2,300,000

2002 -- 2,500,000

2003 -- 2,600,000

2004 -- 2,700,000

2005 -- 2,800,000

Source: UNAIDS/WHO

Gus D'Angelo / The Chronicle

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