07/01/2026
This day in HIV and AIDS history...on January 7, 1983, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report reports the first cases of AIDS in women in the U.S. In later years, the definition of AIDS would include women thanks to advocates such as Katrina Haslip among others.
From the start of the HIV and AIDS epidemic in the U.S., women have frequently been minimized or erased from the conversation. For example, the medical community initially incorrectly deemed q***r women as immune to HIV. Disparities in medical research and access to care for women persist to this day. And advocates, both past and present, continue to highlight the toll of such inequities.
As artist collective Gran Fury put it in their 1991 piece, "Women don't get AIDS, they just die from it." Gran Fury's work highlights the cost of excluding women from the conversation and care. Anyone can acquire HIV, anyone can develop AIDS. Equitable and effective prevention and treatment must be available to all people if we are to .
