Documenting HIV epidemic: national survey of HIV archives
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documenting-hiv-uk.bsky.social
Documenting HIV epidemic: national survey of HIV archives
@documenting-hiv-uk.bsky.social
Project to survey HIV and Aids archive collections in the UK. Based at West Sussex Records Office in Chichester, West Sussex.
The report outlines a 2-year project surveying HIV and AIDS archive collections in the UK, detailing their locations, strengths, and weaknesses. It also shares findings from private archives and offers recommendations for preserving and improving access to collections www.wsro.org.uk/special-proj...
June 3, 2025 at 8:17 AM
#AtoZofHIVArchives

Z- Patient Zero (Gaëtan Dugas)

For the final post in the series, I have chosen Gaëtan Dugas (1953-1984), who is known in the history of HIV and AIDS as “Patient Zero”.

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February 28, 2025 at 10:54 AM
In March 2012, he began work in establishing a national AIDS archive he had begun collecting material from individuals and organisations in the wider community.

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February 26, 2025 at 12:44 PM
He is best known for publicising the concept of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PREP) for HIV and has studied the health economics of HIV therapy as well as ageing in HIV-positive people.

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February 26, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Since 1996 he has been the Director of HIV Clinical Research at London's Royal Free Hospital as well as an Honorary Senior Lecturer in General Medicine at its associated medical school.

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February 26, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Mike was one of the founders of the Kobler Clinic at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London in 1986, the first purpose built integrated care and research centre in the UK for HIV and associated conditions.

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February 26, 2025 at 12:44 PM
#AtoZofHIVArchives

Y is for Dr Mike Youle

Mike Youle is a British doctor and clinical researcher specialising in HIV and AIDS treatment. He began treating HIV and AIDS patients at St Stephen’s Hospital (now Chelsea and Westminster) in London in the mid-1980s.

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February 26, 2025 at 12:44 PM
The Health Education Authority (HEA) responsible for HIV public health campaigns struggled to produce safer sex literature which could use frank language and appeal to their intended audience, e.g. gay men, and not upset the Conservative government and morale campaigning groups.

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February 22, 2025 at 12:42 PM
David Shenton, the British gay cartoonist was famous for lampooning the government’s efforts to promote safer sex to gay men in 1980s. He often ridiculed efforts within his regular comic strips published in Gay News and Capital Gay.

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February 22, 2025 at 12:42 PM
In reply, THT stated:
“Although it was realised that the wording and/or pictures would be more than likely to cause offence in some quarters, and this was to be expected, it needs to be realised that such people were not the one’s at whom this particular message was being targeted"

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February 22, 2025 at 12:42 PM
In May 1985, Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) launched their first safer sex campaign with publication of the safer sex leaflet, Sex. The leaflet used explicit language and pictures and this was met by fierce opposition such as by the conservative moral campaign, Family and Youth Concern.

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February 22, 2025 at 12:42 PM
HIV continues primarily to be transmitted through unprotected sex and practicing safer sex one of the main ways to prevent it. But how can you do this to ensure that the message is understood and adopted and what if people object either morally or politically to the safe sex message?

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February 22, 2025 at 12:42 PM
#AtoZofHIVArchives

X – X-rated

It is not possible to talk about history of HIV and AIDS without talking about sex.

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February 22, 2025 at 12:42 PM
One of the founders of the group, Sheila, explained the reason for setting it up:

“I went to a few HIV/AIDS support groups were very gay orientated which was fine, because they were doing a great job supporting each other, but it wasn’t fine for me because my needs weren’t being met."

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February 19, 2025 at 11:40 AM
The absence of specific support for women’s issues with HIV spurred on the creation of early HIV support groups like Positively Women, which was established in 1987.

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February 19, 2025 at 11:40 AM
The National AIDS Manual of that year, on the topic of women and HIV focused on safer sex for lesbians who were seen as at increased risk and did not provide any guidance on issues of HIV and pregnancy, or issues surrounding HIV and the family.

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February 19, 2025 at 11:40 AM
In the UK, for the first few decades of epidemic, there were fewer cases of women contracting the virus with 3% of people diagnosed with AIDS being women in 1988.

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February 19, 2025 at 11:40 AM
#AtoZofHIVArchives

W - Women

HIV and women intersect in multiple ways from those living with the virus, to mother-child transmission and impact on the family to name a few. As of 2023, 53% of people living with HIV were women according to UNAIDS.

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February 19, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Today, the candle light memorials are more often held in and around World AIDS Day in December, such as the candle lit memorial in Brighton held on World AIDS Day in 2023.

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#HIV #AIDS #history #archive #memorial
February 17, 2025 at 9:53 AM
The service was conducted in St Martins-in-the-fields church and organised by @thtorguk and @nationalaidstrust. The service featured readings by celebrities including Paul Gambaccini and Helen Mirren, as well as songs from Jacques Brel, Stevie Wonder and 'I have a dream' by ABBA.

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February 17, 2025 at 9:53 AM
The memorial became an annual occurrence in 1980s and 1990s. One of the attendee packs for the 1994 candlelight memorial held on 22 May 1994 can be found in the AVERT archive at West Sussex Records Office

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February 17, 2025 at 9:53 AM
The International AIDS Candlelight Memorial was established in 1985 and conducted AIDS Memorials on the third Sunday in May. The first candlelight memorial held in the United Kingdom was in Trafalgar Square in 1985 arranged by the Terrence Higgins Trust.

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February 17, 2025 at 9:53 AM
#AtoZofHIVArchives

V – is for candlelight vigils

Lighting candles as an act of remembrance has been a long religious tradition in Western Europe. In more recent times this has developed into a form of non-violent protest or a show of support for a specific cause.

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February 17, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Due to the recency of the campaign limited records were held in heritage collections, but did find far more during my survey of private HIV collections such as recent publications by HIV I-base.

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February 12, 2025 at 2:10 PM
#AtoZofHIVArchives

U stands for U = U: Undetectable = Untransmittable.

The Prevention Access Campaign (PAC) launched the U=U campaign in 2016 to promote the largely unknown fact: people living with HIV who are on treatment and have an undetectable viral load cannot sexually transmit HIV.

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February 12, 2025 at 2:10 PM