World Aids Day: 30 years since Britain’s first diagnosis
The Telegraph
On June 5th 1981, a medical journal in the States documented a mysterious illness that had killed five men in Los Angeles.
It was the first reference to what would later be known as Aids and by December of that year – exactly 30 years ago this month – the first case of Aids was diagnosed in the UK.
Today marks not only that anniversary, but also World Aids Day which, since 1988 has been observed around the world to commemorate those who have died from the disease and also to raise awareness of the issue and to raise funds for continued research into a possible cure and treatment.
Over 86,500 people in the UK are currently living with HIV, part of a world-wide epidemic of which the World Health Authority (WHO) estimates more than 30 million adults and close to 3 million children are sufferers.
In the last 30 years, Aids has claimed many lives in the UK and in 2011 86,500 are HIV positive, four times as many as in 1993.
