1988 History
As the global mobilisation against AIDS continued, a world summit of ministers of health was held in London to discuss a common AIDS strategy. The summit focused on programmes for AIDS prevention, and there were delegates from 148 countries.
One outcome of the meeting was the London Declaration on AIDS Prevention, which emphasised education, the free exchange of information and experience, and the need to protect human rights and dignity.45 The Director-General of the World Health Organization chose this occasion to announce that the WHO intended to promote an annual World AIDS Day, and the first such day would be on 1st December 1988.46
The meeting was opened by the UK's Princess Royal, who upset many people involved in AIDS education, as well as many people with AIDS, when she stated that:
"the real tragedy concerns the innocent victims, people who have been infected unknowingly, perhaps as a result of a blood transfusion … but possibly, worst of all, those babies who are infected in the womb and are born with the virus."47
If there are "innocent victims", then by implication there are also "guilty victims". This was an unfortunate suggestion to be making at a world meeting on AIDS prevention.
In May the United States finally launched a coordinated HIV/AIDS education campaign.48 The distribution took place of 107 million copies of "Understanding AIDS", a booklet by Surgeon General C. Everett Koop.49 'Understanding AIDS' was the single most widely read publication in the United States in June 1988, with 86.9 million readers.50
The following month the American Medical Association urged doctors to break confidentiality in order to warn the sexual partners of people being treated for AIDS.51
"We are saying for the first time that, because of the danger to the public health and danger to unknowing partners who may be contaminated with this lethal disease, the physician may be required to violate patient confidentiality. The physician has a responsibility to inform the spouse or known partners. This is more than an option. This is an professional responsibility."
In the USA frustration continued to grow over the slowness of progress in improving access to drugs. When the Presidential Commission on the HIV Epidemic issued its final report in June 1988, it declared that the FDA arrangements were "not meeting the needs of people with AIDS". On October 11th more than 1,000 ACT-UP demonstrators virtually shut down operations at the FDA headquarters.52
Eight days after the ACT-UP demonstration the FDA announced new regulations to speed drug approval.53
The first official needle exchange was started in the US to prevent transmission of HIV through drug use.54 A limited experiment started in November in New York City and, at about the same time, the Prevention Point opened in San Francisco.55 56 But Congress prohibited the use of federal funds to support needle exchange programs.57
On December 1st, the first World AIDS Day took place, with the WHO asking everyone to "Join the Worldwide Effort
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