The Early Years of the AIDS Crisis

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Topic spans: 1981 - 1987

The Early Years of the AIDS Crisis

In the early 1980s doctors began noticing rare cancers and infections striking otherwise healthy young gay men. Something was destroying their immune systems — something fatal and possibly contagious. At first it was called the 'gay plague.' Then others began dying: Haitians, intravenous drug users, hemophiliacs and heterosexuals. Fear, confusion and prejudice reigned as the disease eventually known as AIDS grew from a mystery to an epidemic.

This topic contains discussion of a sexual nature. The medical information in the clips was believed accurate at the time of broadcast, but may have changed.

15 television clips

7 radio clips

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Are AIDS victims a danger to society?

Broadcast Date: Oct. 17, 1985

By 1985 everyone knows that AIDS is a deadly, contagious disease. So should we quarantine those who have it? Remove children from school and daycare? Force employees to take AIDS tests? Doctors can't guarantee there is no way to catch AIDS casually, and a nervous public is increasingly unwilling to take any chances — even if that means sacrificing human rights. They voice their AIDS fears on camera at a public forum in Toronto.

Are AIDS victims a danger to society?

• In 1985 there was much debate about whether it was appropriate for insurance companies to demand applicants take HIV tests. In 1986 the Canadian Bar Association determined that the tests were reliable enough and significant enough that insurers could ask applicants about any HIV tests they had previously taken. They can require HIV tests for people applying for individual insurance policies and deny insurance to anyone who is HIV positive.

• Ryan White was a young hemophiliac who contracted AIDS from contaminated blood products on Dec. 17, 1984 at age 13. His school district in Kokomo, Ind. banned him from his classroom and he was only allowed to return after extensive legal battles. He became an AIDS activist, testifying before the President's Commission on AIDS, and was befriended by celebrities like Michael Jackson and Elton John. He died on April 8, 1990.

Are AIDS victims a danger to society?

Medium: Television

Program: The Journal

Broadcast Date: Oct. 17, 1985

Guest(s): Victor Bender, John Derrick, Murray Elston, Harvey Friedman, Jeff Levy, Margaret Somerville, Ryan White

Host: Barbara Frum
Reporter: Sheila MacVicar

Duration: 29:45

Last updated:
Sept. 22, 2003

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