“Silence = Death.”

That was the mantra of determined AIDS activists who quickly concluded the U.S. government was not doing enough to combat the then-emergent AIDS epidemic, which first hit the headlines in 1981.

There was a distinct lack of federally coordinated action on AIDS for several key years right at the beginning of the epidemic, when it really mattered. Then-President Ronald Reagan couldn’t even bring himself to utter the word “AIDS” in public until 1985, four years after this calamity began.

So it was a jarring flashback to hear that as far the U.S. government is concerned, the annual commemoration of World AIDS Day no longer exists.

In 1988, the World Health Organization declared Dec. 1 World AIDS Day. The U.S. government has recognized this awareness day every year

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