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Time line on HIV/AIDS treatment advances over the past 25 years
| 1981 | CDC reports a new pneumonia, Pneumocystis carinii, in five gay men, later determined to be the first cases of AIDS |
| 1983 | First recommendations made for preventing transmission of HIV through sexual contact and blood transfusions |
| 1985 | First International AIDS Conference held in Atlanta, Ga. |
| 1986 | Zidovudine (AZT) begins clinical trials as first drug to treat AIDS; Surgeon General calls for education and condom use; clean syringe distribution program begins in Boston and New Haven, Conn. |
| 1987 | AZT approved by the FDA; FDA creates new class of experimental drugs, Investigational New Drugs, which accelerates drug approval by two to three years |
| 1988 | International AIDS Society forms |
| 1990 | FDA approves AZT for pediatric AIDS |
| 1991 | CDC recommends restrictions on the practice of HIV-positive healthcare workers |
| 1992 | First clinical trials of combination therapies; FDA licenses first rapid HIV test |
| 1994 | U.S. Public Health Service recommends use of AZT by pregnant women |
| 1995 | First PI, saquinavir (Fortovase, Roche), approved in record time by FDA beginning new era of highly active antiretroviral therapy |
| 1996 | First NNRTI, nevirapine (Viramune, Boehringer Ingelheim), is approved; first viral load test approved; first HIV urine test approved; drug "cocktails" beginpatients take as many as 60 pills per day |
| 1998 | Clinical trials begin for vaccine, AIDSVAX; HHS issues first national guidelines for use of antiretroviral therapy in adults |
| 2000 | UNAIDS, WHO negotiate reduced drug prices with pharmaceutical manufacturers for use in developing countries |
| 2001 | Generic drug manufacturers offer to produce discounted drugs for developing countries |
| 2002 | Approval of Oraquick Rapid HIV1 antibody test-first test to use finger prick |
| 2003 | President Bush announces PEPFAR, President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, providing aid to other countries |
| 2004 | First saliva-based HIV test approved |
| 2005 | AZT's patent expires and FDA approves several generic versions |
| 2006 | First single-pill, once-daily, triple-drug combination treatment approved (Atripla) |
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