amfAR Founding National Chairman Elizabeth Taylor receives the title Dame of the British Empire (D.B.E.) in honor of her contributions to the entertainment industry and the fight against AIDS.
With the leadership of U.S. Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke and others, the United Nations Security Council declares AIDS an international security issue because it threatens social, economic, and political structures worldwide.
amfAR launches a targeted grant initiative to identify new viral and cellular targets for anti-HIV drugs.
UNAIDS and other global health groups announce a joint initiative with five major pharmaceutical companies to negotiate reduced AIDS drug prices in developing countries.
The CDC reports that black and Latino men now account for more AIDS cases among men who have sex with men (MSM) than white men.
The XIII International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa, focuses world attention on the exploding epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa, where millions of people with HIV/AIDS have little or no access to medical treatment.
In conjunction with the Durban conference, amfAR places a full-page ad in The New York Times headlined “HIV causes AIDS. To argue otherwise costs lives.” A response to a small but vocal minority who question the cause of AIDS, the ad is signed by over 500 scientists and physicians.
Dr. Mathilde Krim is awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her leadership in creating the AIDS Medical Foundation in 1983 and amfAR in 1985, and her commitment to the fight against AIDS.
UNAIDS reports that 36.1 million people are now living with HIV/AIDS, over 13 million children have lost one or both parents to AIDS, and nearly 22 million people have died of AIDS-related causes since the epidemic began.
U.S. YEAR-END STATISTICS
774,467 cases of AIDS reported to date
448,060 deaths
