Discovery

• The number of people that developed AIDS prior to the 1970s is unknown; however, the first positive identifications of AIDS occurred in 1981. The disease appeared in homosexual men living in California and New York. Later discoveries would disprove early assumptions that AIDS was exclusive to the gay population.
  
  

Pandemic Status

• By 1985, China identified cases of AIDS within the country, meaning that it was a pandemic, affecting people worldwide. In 1988, health ministers declared a World AIDS Day to raise awareness in all nations.
  
  

Advancements

• As of 2010, there is still no cure for AIDS or HIV; however, treatment is available to help control the disease and increase the life expectancy of those infected. Treatment involves taking a combination of drugs from several classes of known HIV inhibitors.