On May 21st, 1990, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, aka ACT UP, led a “die-in” as part of their Storm the NIH demonstration. By lying on the ground, protestors provided a powerful visual representation of the over 120,000 lives that had already been lost to AIDS. Organizers also sounded horns five times each hour to signify that one person was dying of AIDS every 12 minutes in the U.S. ACT UP demanded that the government take action to combat the AIDS crisis. They pleaded for the NIH and the FDA to conduct and authorize more research on treatments, and urged them to make medications available to patients throughout the country. After years of inaction under the Reagan administration, the government finally began to take measures to combat AIDS. Many Americans today maintain that Reagan was responsible for the deaths of thousands.
It is estimated that over 700,000 Americans have died from AIDS-related illness since the beginning of the epidemic in 1981.
Image courtesy of the NIH History Office.
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-RF