--- title: HIV Used To Be a Death Sentence. Here’s What’s Changed description: It’s been 35 years since the first cases of HIV/AIDS were reported, and prognosis for people infected with HIV has improved dramatically canonical: https://time.com/4585537/world-aids-day-hiv/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-01T20:03:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:02:48.039Z article:section: Health og:title: HIV Used To Be a Death Sentence. Here’s What’s Changed og:description: It’s been 35 years since the first cases of HIV/AIDS were reported, and prognosis for people infected with HIV has improved dramatically og:url: https://time.com/4585537/world-aids-day-hiv/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt80451c839c202480/6988b052f887dcd901e985e8/world-aids-day1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Common, JoJo og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: HIV Used To Be a Death Sentence. Here’s What’s Changed twitter:description: It’s been 35 years since the first cases of HIV/AIDS were reported, and prognosis for people infected with HIV has improved dramatically twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt80451c839c202480/6988b052f887dcd901e985e8/world-aids-day1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # HIV Used to Be a Death Sentence. Here’s What’s Changed in 35 Years > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. 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It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators.  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Dec 1, 2016 8:03 PM UTC  More than a thousand advocates take part in AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s ‘Keep the Promise’ March in Hollywood, CA on Nov. 30, 2016\. The march took place down historic Hollywood Boulevard on the eve of World AIDS Day to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and to persuade key decision makers in the US and around the globe to ‘keep the promise’ and commit more funds to HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment. More than a thousand advocates take part in AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s ‘Keep the Promise’ March in Hollywood, CA on Nov. 30, 2016\. The march took place down historic Hollywood Boulevard on the eve of World AIDS Day to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and to persuade key decision makers in the US and around the globe to ‘keep the promise’ and commit more funds to HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment. Carlos Delgado—AP Images for AIDS Healthcare Fo  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Dec 1, 2016 8:03 PM UTC It’s been 35 years since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the first cases of HIV/AIDS, as the disease is now known. Since then, prognosis for people infected with HIV has improved dramatically; no longer is an HIV diagnosis a death sentence, but some hurdles remain. Here are the 5 biggest changes in the epidemic. **HIV CASES VS. AIDS CASES** THEN In the early days of the epidemic, most people progressed to AIDS, the advanced form of the disease, and then died of it. NOW Anti-HIV drugs have helped many people live with HIV for years, often even decades. At the epidemic’s peak in 1995, 50,000 died; in 2014, around 12,000 people died of late-stage AIDS. **WHO’S AT HIGHEST RISK** THEN The epidemic began among marginalized populations, including gay men, IV drug users and sex workers. NOW While rates among gay men are still high and account for the bulk of new infections, about 25% of Americans living with HIV are women, and most new cases in women happen because they’ve become infected by their partners through sex. 44% of new HIV diagnoses in 2014 were in African-Americans, the racial group most affected by the disease. Transmission is also high among younger men who were born after the height of the epidemic in the 1980s and weren’t exposed to the early public health HIV prevention campaigns. **DRUG TREATMENTS** THEN For years, AZT was the only drug approved to treat HIV. It was a stop gap, since HIV quickly became resistant to the treatment, but it was the only drug available. NOW Dozens of approved mediations exist, each of which blocks HIV from dividing and producing more virus in a different way. Combining the medications has transformed HIV infection into a chronic disease that can be managed with drug treatment. **PREVENTION EFFORTS** THEN Safe sex campaigns and condom distribution were controversial public health messages, and conservative groups argued that such campaigns would promote promiscuous behavior. Abstinence became a popular message in some parts of the U.S. NOW Condoms and clean needles are proven ways to lower spread of the virus; studies consistently show that an abstinence-only approach doesn’t work to reduce spread of HIV. **HIV TESTING** THEN Only available in labs or HIV clinics, people would have to risk the stigma of being seen at an HIV clinic in order to learn their status. NOW Home testing kits allow people to test in their own home; people send the required sample in provided packaging to a lab and can call in for their results. If needed, labs provide counselors to discuss the results. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4585537/world-aids-day-hiv/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4585537/world-aids-day-hiv/"},"headline":"HIV Used to Be a Death Sentence. 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