Twenty years of information,
advocacy and inspiration—1985

Project Inform achievements (1985–2004)     View PDF

Project Inform milestones:

• Proposed the first truly community-based research study.
• Designed and implemented the first public treatment information education program.
• Created and distributed the first community-based, independent treatment education materials.
• Made the first known community call for an AIDS medical model based on patient empowerment and taking responsibility for one’s own medical care.
• Facilitated the development of an informal pipeline to make experimental drugs under study in the U.S. available to people with AIDS outside of clinical trials.

Epidemic milestones:

• The first International AIDS Conference is held in Atlanta, Georgia.
• On July 25, Rock Hudson discloses he has AIDS, focusing unprecedented national attention on the epidemic. He died Oct. 2.
• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves the first AIDS antibody test, which is immediately used to screen the nation’s blood supply. The California legislature subsequently passes a law guaranteeing the confidentiality of HIV testing in California, a concept that is eventually adopted nationwide.
• U.S. TO DATE TOTAL:  20,470 AIDS cases; 8,161 AIDS deaths