Looking Back On 40 Years Of The AIDS Epidemic

Since June 1981, AIDS has claimed more than 700,000 lives in the U.S. and today more than 1.1 million people in America are living with HIV. As TODAY kicks off its observance of LGBTQ+ Pride Month, men living with HIV share their perspectives with NBC New Now anchor Joe Fryer.

About: TODAY brings you the latest headlines and expert tips on money, health and parenting. We wake up every morning to give you and your family all you need to start your day. If it matters to you, it matters to us. We are in the people business. Subscribe to our channel for exclusive TODAY archival footage & our original web series.

Connect with TODAY Online!

#PrideMonth #LGBTQ #HIV

[jamela]

Rest in peace Darren my cousin whom passed away in 1993 😢💔🌹. God bless the survivors of the epidemic it was a terrible time in history. If you are of a certain age AIDS has affected you in one way or another. Thanks for sharing this 🙏🏾

[bgthtr]

As a 30 year survivor of HIV myself, I never take for granted the life I've been able to live. Most of my friends died in the 80s and I still feel survivor guilt. I try not to complain about trivial things because my friends wanted to live to experience what I have. I'm 30 years HIV but I've never had AIDS. I have lived to see 56 after being diagnosed at 26. I promise to always remember those who lost the good fight.

[kathrynhill]

Back in 1981, several years before my birth in 1990, my mother began her job as an ICU nurse and her very first patients were the folks who actually got AIDS. And just like how she struggled with COVID-19 patients last year, she and her workers didn’t know how to treat AIDS nor figure out how to cure it due to the fact that there was no actual cure.

[Excile]

It is sad that people in the 80’s didn’t have the chance to live and survive with that disease

[Rgucci]

RIP Ryan White and all affected by HIV & AIDS

[Mr.Majestic]

There needs to be a 24 hour HIV/AIDS cable channel or streaming platform dedicated to HIV/AIDS awareness, current medical updated (possible vaccines & functional/sterilizing cure), and HIV/AIDS based movies and television series.

[frankchambers]

I remember visiting The Castro in San Francisco in 1996 and it was a ghost town. I didn't realize for a couple years that it was because everyone died. The stigma is brutal and embarrassing. Where's the cure?

[yvonce]

If your undetected you still need to tell your partner that you have HIV and wear protection every time.

[richardleiderman]

40 years of Aids gets 6 minutes but Jenna Bush skydiving gets 7 minutes and desserts you can make with old bananas got 24 minutes. Thanks NBC!

[domb]

I really wish when stories about HIV are done, that they show the horrific affects of lipodystrophy which affected many of us when the first med cocktails came out. So tired of seeing beautiful people talk about HIV which has, for others like me, been so devastating over the last 25 years.

[foryounger]

Man I remember when this epidemic first started; I can’t imagine what it must’ve been like for the gentleman who contracted it back then. My heart goes out to these men.❤️

[viavia]

Today I know someone who found out they have HIV from a woman he slept with, I told him he can live, just take care of your self and take the meds. It’s not a death sentence like it used to be but I’m grateful to have the knowledge about it to know I don’t have to alienate someone. Stay strong to those. ❤❤❤

[GiordanDiodato]

progress is slow because Reagan denied it existed.

[TunTheOfficial]

The history behind this is very interesting

[italianstallion]

i was 4 and a half years old in June 1981 and I'm 46 and a half now. 42 years I've lived with AIDS. I wish there was a cure and for cancer and gonorrhoea as well.

[zerofox]

I’m watching this after watching “It’s a sin” on Netflix. It’s heartbreaking what these young men went through in the 80s and 90s to watch people dying all around you in your community and it being so hushed like it was in the UK back then. The trauma must be like witnessing a war! My heart goes out to all those young boys in the early days of HIV/AIDS and God bless those who fought the fight against it with them. I’m glad the future is brighter today.

[ncavlleguy]

I was 14 years old in 1981
And I still remember when all this began

[sayla]

*People with HIV have a substantially HIGHER RISK OF CANCERS compared with uninfected people, up 500x increase. Yes, it's true that people with HIV are living longer but their immune systems does not get fully healthy. As people with HIV live longer, their chances of having other health problems, like cancer, increase.* Why do they always down play serious medical illness? Not dying of AIDS is an improvement not an achievement.

[freddyhoyt]

I went to so many funerals I just can’t stop crying about my friends dying

[LisaFranks-zonl]

HIV positive right here 💚 keep your head up all💙