30 Years After the Discovery of HIV, a Timeline of AIDS Milestones

April 23 marks 30 years since the U.S. announced the discovery of what causes AIDS: a retrovirus called HTLV-III, later renamed HIV. At their 1984 press conference, in the face of one of the world's most terrifying medical epidemics, Health and Human Services Secretary Margaret Heckler and virologist Dr. Robert Gallo of the National Cancer Institute projected scientists would be able to produce an AIDS vaccine within two years.

"That turned out to be totally incorrect," Heckler told PBS in 2006. "But at that time, we did not know that the replication of the virus would be so difficult — and it still is a problem."

Thirty years later, the world still has no cure, much less a vaccine to prevent the disease. Since the beginning of the epidemic in 1981, more than 600,000 people with AIDS have died in the United States, and more than 15,000 still die each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

But there are now scores of retroviral drugs that either reduce the likelihood of contracting HIV or curb the onset of AIDS and its related complications. There is increased worldwide education surrounding HIV/AIDS and improved access to treatment, as well as a stronger network of support systems and equal rights advocates than ever before.

The CDC estimates prevention efforts have averted more than 350,000 HIV infections in the U.S. alone.

Browse the timeline below, which highlights more than three decades of the U.S. fight against HIV/AIDS. We'll cover the origins of the disease and the phobias surrounding its outbreak, the peak of the crisis in the mid 1990s, the science behind finding a cure and the remaining obstacles that must be overcome.

Lead image: The Washington Post/Getty Images

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