Documentary About HIV/AIDS in the 1980s to Debut on CNN

Michael S. Gottlieb, M.D., Immunologist, UCLA Medical Center

CNN will present "The Fight Against AIDS" on Thursday, May 12, 2016, at 9 p.m. as part of its documentary series The Eighties. The seven-part series focuses on the events that shaped the '80s—a decade that included President Ronald Reagan, the end of the Cold War, Wall Street corruption, the tech boom, the expansion of television and the beginning of the AIDS crisis.

"The Fight Against AIDS" chronicles the history of HIV/AIDS through archival footage and interviews with journalists, historians, doctors, researchers, celebrities and activists. It traces the AIDS crisis from the epidemic's beginning—when young, sexually active gay men, Haitian refugees, drug users and hemophiliacs were among the first known cases—to the panic and hysteria that resulted from the uncertainty, misinformation and ignorance surrounding the virus; and on to Hollywood's involvement and gay-rights activists' struggles to pressure the government to find a treatment and cure.

Highlights include the development of test kits, the impact of Rock Hudson's AIDS diagnosis upon public awareness, the harassment of Ryan White and his subsequent activism, the Reagan controversy, and the mobilization of the LGBT community. The documentary, however, touches only briefly upon the epidemic in Black America, which the media and many other mainstream organizations largely ignored.

Gay-rights activists Cleve Jones and Larry Kramer; immunologist Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, who has been director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984; immunologist and HIV researcher Dr. Michael Gottlieb; and Black AIDS Institute founder, president and CEO Phill Wilson are among the pioneers in fighting the epidemic who are featured in the episode, which is definitely worth watching.

April Eugene is a Philadelphia-based writer.