Running head: THE ORIGIN AND POLICIES TOWARDS HIV/AIDS 1

The Origin and Policies towards HIV/AIDS

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THE ORIGIN AND POLICIES TOWARDS HIV/AIDS 2

The Origin and Policies towards HIV/AIDS

Since its discovery in President Reagan’s administration, researchers have offered

varying theories regarding the genesis of what is now known as HIV/AIDS. Shilts (1987)

popularized the notion that Gaetan Dugas, a homosexual flight attendant dubbed “Patient Zero,”

was responsible for introducing the disease in the U.S. Subsequent authors and researchers have

countered Shilts’ idea of a Patient Zero by pointing, for example, to the discovery of HIV in

blood samples in Africa dating back to 1959 (Zhu, 1998), and to HIV as the cause of death of a

sexually active boy in St. Louis in 1969 (Altman, 1982). From its first appearance in the U.S., in

1980 in California, to its official recognition by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

(CDC) in 1981, the majority of people infected with the as-yet-unnamed virus were homosexual

men (CDC, 2007). Particularly, this preponderance was so large that the illness was initially

known as Gay Related Infectious Disease (GRID). By July of 1982, the risk of contracting the

disease had shifted to include other populations, and AIDS replaced the name GRID. In both

Bush and Clinton’s administration, the percentage of HIV/AIDS diagnoses in women rose from

15% to 27% of total HIV/AIDS diagnoses. During that same period, the development of antiviral

medications caused a shift in public perceptions of the disease. Previously, HIV/AIDS was seen

as having plague-like attributes—people infected with HIV developed AIDS and died in

relatively short periods of time. From President Reagan, through Bush and Clinton

administration, improvement of policies and laws have led to improvements of HIV/AIDs

epidemic to chronic conditions.

The genesis of HIV/AIDs crisis coincides with the Reagan administration. The Center for

Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which was responsible for tracing the development of

new epidemics, documented the first scenario of rare lung infection, making the first official
THE ORIGIN AND POLICIES TOWARDS HIV/AIDS 3

reporting of HIV/AIDs in 1981. After one year, the Public Health Service announced a series of

incidences of 460 cases of AIDs and 200 deaths connected to HIV/AIDs, crossing the 1000th

threshold. The total count of patients with HIV/AIDs increased to 20,000 cases by the start of

1986. Specifically, these demographics of HIV/AIDs appeared to define the official public

attitude. Since the reports revealed that the gay men and the heroin drug abusers had the rates of

HIV/AIDs infection, it was logical to relate HIV/AIDs with homosexual life. Interestingly, the

CDC termed the disease as “Gay-Related Immunodeficiency Disease” (GRID) Even though

cases emerged of the disease impacting individual from other community besides the gay group,

a thin line between gender, race, sex inclination, political inclination and religious affiliation

triggered a shift in public opinion. Because of the protests and advocacy generated by the gay

group for fear of discrimination and being unfairly linked to HIV/AIDs, the CDC changed the

term GRID to AIDs (Barnet & Whiteside, 2006, p.31). Also, the incidence of Ryan White

functioned as a catalyst in shifting people’s perception towards HIV/AIDs. The case was about

the story of an Indiana teenager being suspended from school because of blood infection through

transfusion. As many parents protested against Ryan White’s suspension with fear that he a

public health liability and might contaminate other children, the case became famous.

Furthermore, the death of Rock Hudson, an Idol Rock trigger a national shock that leads people

to focus on raising HIV/AIDs awareness.

Since President Reagan framed HIV/AIDs crisis as a moral epidemic and not a public

health epidemic, it justified the avoidance of enacting public health policy until 1988. Behrman

(2004, p.13) observed that the approach of the administration during the 1980s was to avoid the

concerns of HIV/AIDs because it was a political hot potato. Since HIV/AIDs was infecting the

marginalized individual and Reagan’s administration perceived it as a “lose, lose issue,” Regean
THE ORIGIN AND POLICIES TOWARDS HIV/AIDS 4

advisor shielded his involvement with the epidemic. Most of Reagan’s associates shared his

mindset and believed that there would be a political consequence if the administration engaged

with HIV/AIDs. The policymakers had extended the perception that the disease was gay-related

and generated a disbelief that it only spreads through heterosexual participation and encouraged

the administration to the effect HIV/AIDs overseas.

During this period, the private United State pharmaceutical market played a significant

role since the start of the HIV/AIDs crisis in the development of US official policy regarding the

disease. Since the private sector is protected in the US constitution as a platform in pursuit of

welfare, the private drug industry researched into drug, vaccines, and approaches that would end

the HIV/AIDs epidemic. To exploit financial gain, Abbot Laboratory had the market monopoly

and used enzyme-like in the blood (ELISA) to reap millions of dollars. Also, the private industry

propelled the Regan administration to advocate laws that protect and promote its interest.

Consequently, the Congress passed a series of laws that speed up the privatization process as a

way of economic development and innovation. For instance, the Hatch-Waxman Act of 1984

favored the private pharmaceutical firms to use innovations to research and produce generic

drugs. Before this Act, the Congress had passed the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 which permitted

academic institutions and not profit organization to own in the invention made using the state

fund. In fact, the Bayh-Dole Act allowed a private organization to access discoveries from

research sponsored by government institutes.

One significant development in the prevention of HIV/AIDs crisis was during the

establishment of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act of

1990. Although President Bush was reluctant to sign this bill into law, it was the state’s largest

funded intervention to provide care to the uninsured HIV/AIDs infected citizen. The billed was
THE ORIGIN AND POLICIES TOWARDS HIV/AIDS 5

signed after intense protest from HIV/AIDs organized groups forcing the state to act in favor for

citizen infected with HIV/AIDs and the overpricing of drugs from the private pharmaceutical

companies. Organized groups such as the ACT-UP played a significant role in forcing the state

to address the issue of monology by pharmaceutical companies. CARE’s resource provisions for

care of low-income people with HIV/AIDs infection responded to the mass action demanding

action from the state. Consequently, the Congress agreed to plan resources to focus on treatment

and prevention concerns as well as availing vaccines by assessing the social aspect of HIV/AIDs

at both global and local level.

President Clinton spent limited time in developing policies towards HIV/AIDs because

his presidency encountered political opposition and various sex scandals. From the 1994’s Newt

Gingrich revolution and the closing of the government budget in 1995, Clinton appeared to be

one term president. The only approach was to continue curbing the HIV/AIDs crisis at domestic

grounds rather than international level. By creating the Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP),

the only networked the coordination of international efforts to multilateral efforts. Earlier in

1995, he had formed the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDs to inform on policies

connected to HIV/AIDs. The general approach of Clinton to HIV/AIDs crisis was to recover

from economic recession and reinstatement of US international power after the Cold War. His

policy approach remained the same like his predecessors based on the domestic gain. One

significant event in Clinton’s administration was the introduction of the Highly Active

Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) in the international market. HAART changed HIV/Aids from

lethal disease to a chronic condition by reducing the significant amount of death among the

people in the United States. The death cases reduced by 45% between 1995 and 1998, falling

from the number one cause of death to fifth cause of death in the American youth. During this
THE ORIGIN AND POLICIES TOWARDS HIV/AIDS 6

period, the US lobbied the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)

prevent other nations from producing HAART.

The paper has provided the developments towards HIV/AIDs prevention. Specifically,

the paper has discussed the policy developed under the administration of President Bush, Reagan

and Clinton. Since the emergence of the HIV/AIDs epidemic, the paper has demonstrated why

and how these administration developed different policy and attitude outcomes based on the

existence of the issues and entrenched assumptions. For example, while Bush and Reagan had

limited focus on global aspects of HIV/AIDs because of the Cold War and their conservative

notions, Clinton directed her focus on international efforts and liberation of the global market

agenda. Therefore, the focus on HIV/AIDs crisis shifted from the initial Reagan’s sexual moral

framing to Bush’s public health concern, to a security threat during Clinton’s era.
THE ORIGIN AND POLICIES TOWARDS HIV/AIDS 7

References

Altman, L. (1982, June 18). Clue found on homosexuals' precancer syndrome. New York

Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/18/us/clue-found-

onhomosexuals-precancer-syndrome.html

Barrett, J., P.(2004). Big Bush Lies. Ashland, Oregon: RiverWood Books.

Behrman, G. (2004). The invisible people: How the US has slept through the global aids

pandemic, the greatest humanitarian catastrophe of our time. New York: Free Press.

Shilts, R. (1987). And the band played on: Politics, people and the AIDS epidemic. New York:

St. Martin's Press.

Zhu, T., Korber, B. T., Nahmias, A. J., Hooper, E., Sharp, P. M., & Ho, D. D. (1998). An

African HIV-1 sequence from 1959 and implications for the origin of the epidemic.

Nature, 391, 594-597.