SAMHSA Commemorates the 40th Anniversary of the AIDS Epidemic

40 Years of Progress – It’s Time to End the HIV Epidemic

By Kristin Roha, MS, MPH, SAMHSA Public Health Advisor for HIV

June 5th marks 40 years since the first five cases of what later became known as AIDS were officially reported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). June 5th also is observed as HIV Long-Term Survivor’s Day. On this 40th anniversary, SAMHSA commemorates the more than 32 million people, including 700,000 in the United States, who have died from AIDS-related illness globally since the start of the epidemic, and honors the resilience of long-term HIV survivors and the vital role they play within our communities.