1 – World AIDS Day

World AIDS day logo button

 

1 – The United States Postal Service issues a 29-cent commemorative stamp to raise awareness of AIDS. Available nationwide, the stamp features a red ribbon symbolizing compassion and awareness. (1993)

 

AIDS Awareness red ribbon stamp

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3 – The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launches Ready, Set, PrEP, a national program that makes medications for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), taken to prevent HIV, available at no cost to people without prescription drug insurance coverage. (2019)

PrEP pills blue pills

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8 – Kimberly Bergalis, one of five patients who made national headlines for allegedly contracting HIV from a dentist in Florida, dies of AIDS-related causes. (1991)

 

10 – San Francisco nurse Bobbi Campbell writes a column for the San Francisco Sentinel about his experiences living with Kaposi sarcoma (KS) and dubs himself the “KS Poster Boy.” Two months earlier, he had posted photos of his lesions in the window of a local drugstore to alert the community about the disease. (1981)

Bobbi Campbell

Bobbi CampbellCourtesy of We Were Here/Marie Ueda

 

13 – Elizabeth Taylor’s jewelry collection is auctioned off at Christie’s for $115.9 million. Proceeds from the sale benefit The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation. (2011)

Elizabeth Taylor receives the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 1993 Academy Awards

Elizabeth Taylor receives the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 1993 Academy AwardsYouTube/Oscars

 

16 – HIV advocate Mark S. King throws a virtual 60th birthday bash during the COVID-19 pandemic to raise funds for The Reunion Project. (2020)

Mark S. KingCourtesy of Mark S. King