amfAR history

In February, AIDS activist Cleve Jones creates the first panel of the AIDS Memorial Quilt to honor his friend Marvin Feldman , who died on October 10, 1986 of AIDS-related illness at age 33.

The response was sluggish; President Reagan didn’t publicly address the subject of AIDS until 1987—at an amfAR event in Washington, DC.

In August, the United States Congress enacts the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act of 1990 (PDF 8.3 MB), which provides $220.5 million in Federal funds for HIV community-based care and treatment services in its first year.

She traveled the world as spokeswoman for the organization and in 1991 established the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation to provide direct services to those suffering from…

Angels in America, Tony Kushner’s play about AIDS, wins the Tony Award for Best Play and the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

On December 1, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launch the Business Responds to AIDS program to help large and small businesses meet the challenges of HIV/AIDS in the workplace and the community. (CDC will start the Labor Responds to AIDS program in 1995.)

On November 21, the United States Congress enacts the Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act (FDAMA) of 1997, codifying an accelerated drug-approval process and allowing dissemination of information about off-label uses of drugs.

July 14: UNAIDS announces that the targets for Millennium Development Goal #6 —halting and reversing the spread of HIV—have been achieved and exceeded 9 months ahead of the schedule set in 2000.

With little attention being paid to the growing epidemic in Asia, amfAR launched TREAT Asia in 2001 to ensure the safe and effective delivery of HIV treatments throughout the region.

June 18: Secretary of State John Kerry announces that, thanks to direct PEPFAR support, more than 1 million infants have been born HIV-free since 2003.

Before stepping down, Krim saw the international surge of amfAR, with the creation of initiatives such as TREAT Asia, and in 2004 the TREAT Asia HIV Observational Database (the only HIV database in Asia).

On December 1, the World Health Organization (WHO) announces the “3 by 5” initiative , to bring treatment to 3 million people by 2005.

In honor of its founding chair, amfAR launched the Mathilde Krim Fellowship in Basic Biomedical Research in 2008.

The report shows an estimated 5.25 million people were receiving antiretroviral therapy in 2009, and an estimated 1.2 million people started treatment that same year – the largest annual increase yet recorded.

In December, President Obama signs the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 (PDF, 1.08 MB), modifying the ban on the use of Federal funds for needle exchange programs.

November 25: CDC announces that only 30% of Americans with HIV had the virus under control in 2011, and approximately two-thirds of those whose virus was out of control had been diagnosed but were no longer in care.

May 24: The National Institutes of Health and partners announce they will launch a large HIV vaccine trial in South Africa in November 2016, pending regulatory approval.

December 11: HRSA’s HIV/AIDS Bureau releases a new report showing that clients receiving Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) medical care were virally suppressed at a record level – 87.1 percent – in 2018.

December 7: HRSA’s HIV/AIDS Bureau releases åthe 2019 Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) Client-Level Data Report, showing that clients receiving RWHAP medical care were virally suppressed at a record level – 88.1 percent – in 2019.

February 3: amfAR announces the launch of Countdown to a Cure for AIDS , a $100 million research initiative aimed at finding a broadly applicable cure for HIV by 2020.