Stigma and Shame Hampered AIDS Treatment in the 80s, and Opioid Treatment Today
By Tom Hagy I worked in the press office of the New Jersey Department of Health in the 1980s. Aside from hazardous waste, asbestos, cancer, a chemical fire or two, the annual influenza "crisis" and the occasional salmonella outbreak, AIDS was one of the most urgent, frightening and misunderstood health issues of the day. The U.S. epidemic began with one reported case in 1981, according to the Centers for Disease Control, and grew to an astounding 36.9 million people living with HIV/AIDS in 2017 as reported by the World Health Organization. The office I worked in was tasked with providing information to the public and members of the press. At the time many public health professionals believed -- as is the case with many diseases -- that education on how to prevent transmission of the HIV virus would all but eliminate its spread. All we had to [...]