When it premiered on Channel 4 in January, Russell T Davies' vibrant, evocative and devastatingly sad It's a Sin shone a spotlight on the human side of the HIV/AIDS crisis. It's rightly being hailed as one of the most important and poignant TV dramas in recent memory. After sitting on TV commissioners' desks for several years – Davies wrote it back in 2015, but says it was "a tough sell" – it arrives almost presciently as we're struggling to process another global health crisis.
Now as we approach the 40th anniversary of the first reported case of AIDS on 5 June, It's a Sin feels especially vital because the HIV/AIDS crisis still isn't discussed enough in schools, on TV or in everyday life. Though its shock waves continue to have an impact today, especially for members of the LGBTQ community still dealing with the shame and stigma it heaped on them, many people aren't fully aware of the tragedy and trauma it caused.
In fact, after watching the show earlier this year people were left googling questions such as 'how did AIDS start,' and 'how many people died of AIDS in the 1980s,' such is the gap in our collective knowledge about this period in our recent history. So if the plight of the Pink Palace gang left you craving further information about the epidemic, here's a timeline of how the UK responded to it.
1981: AIDS recognised for the first time by US health authorities
In December of that year, the first AIDS-related death in the UK was recorded at London's Brompton Hospital. The patient was a 49-year-old gay man who had been a "frequent visitor to Florida".
1982: UK's first AIDS charity established
After collapsing on the dancefloor at London gay club Heaven, 37-year-old Terry Higgins was taken to St Thomas' Hospital, where he later died. In his honour, friends set up the Terry Higgins Trust to raise AIDS awareness and research money. Later renamed the Terrence Higgins Trust, the charity is still campaigning for greater HIV and sexual health awareness today.
1983: Scientists discovered HIV, the virus that causes AIDS
Identified by French virologists Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier, the virus was given several acronyms before being named HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) in 1986. HIV is a virus that attacks the body's immune system. Without effective treatment – which was well over a decade away at this point – it can lead to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome).
Nearly 40 years later, the cumulative figures relating to HIV/AIDS are truly shocking. According to the charity UNAIDS, 78 million people globally have become infected with HIV since the epidemic began, and 35 million have died from an AIDS-related illness.
1986: British government’s AIDS: Don't Die of Ignorance campaign
A leaflet was sent to every household in the UK, but the campaign was defined by the doom-laden TV advert that appears in It's a Sin. "If you ignore AIDS, it could be the death of you, so don't die of ignorance," narrator John Hurt warns as a tombstone crashes to the ground.
In a recent article for The Observer, Davies wrote that this advert "made a whole generation of gay men scared of sex".
1987: Princess Diana opened the UK's first purpose-built HIV/AIDS unit
By shaking hands with a man suffering from the disease, without wearing gloves, she publicly challenged the misconception that HIV/AIDS could be transmitted by touch alone. The widely circulated photo played an important role in combating the growing stigma and ignorance surrounding the disease, which in turn fuelled demonisation of the LGBTQ community.
This stigma and ignorance had come to a head a few months earlier when police raided London LGBTQ venue the Royal Vauxhall Tavern. Paul O'Grady, who was performing on stage as Lily Savage when the raid happened, recalled earlier this week: "I remember saying something like: ‘Well well, looks like we’ve got help with the washing up.' They made many arrests but we were a stoic lot and it was business as usual the next night."
Though Princess Diana's courageous gesture was monumental, it shouldn't be allowed to overshadow the tireless work of grassroots community groups during this period. For example, the protest organisation ACT UP London sent hundreds of helium-filled condoms over the walls of London's Pentonville prison in 1989 to highlight the fact that inmates had no access to contraception.
It’s also important to recognise the role of extraordinary people like Jill from It's a Sin – whom Davies based on a real person – who cared and campaigned for HIV/AIDS patients for many years.
1991: Freddie Mercury’s death
When the Queen singer passed away on November 24, around a day after revealing he was HIV positive and had been diagnosed with AIDS, he became its most high-profile victim. A benefit concert to raise awareness and vital funds was held at London’s Wembley Stadium the following April.
The devastating impact of HIV/AIDS on the LGBTQ community is poignantly illustrated by a 1993 photograph of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Choir which went viral again after It’s a Sin premiered. It displays hauntingly how all but five original members lost their lives to the disease.
1996: Combination treatment for HIV introduced
Also known as antiretroviral therapy (ART) or highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), it works by preventing the virus from replicating in the body. Patients take an individually tailored combination of drugs each day to make them "undetectable". This means that the level of HIV in their blood – their “viral load” – is so low it can’t be detected in tests.
It's not a cure, but thanks to combination therapy, young people on the latest medication now have near-normal life expectancy.
2010: Discrimination against HIV patients made unlawful
Under the Equality Act 2010, employers are no longer allowed to ask for a person's HIV status when they apply for a job. As of 2019 there were an estimated 105,200 people living with HIV in the UK. According to the National AIDS Trust, around 30% of people accessing treatment are women.
2020: Preventative HIV drug PrEP made available on the NHS in England
Already available in Scotland and Wales, PrEP prevents the spread of HIV during condomless sex when taken once a day. Further information is available here.
Meanwhile, in recent years the "U=U" campaign has spread awareness that someone living with HIV who has an undetectable viral load can’t pass on the virus. The message is simple: "Undetectable equals untransmittable."