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Given a death sentence in 1985, Kansas City man reflects on HIV diagnosis 37 years ago

Carlos Moreno
/
KCUR 89.3
Dr. Benjamin Grin (left) and HIV survivor Joseph Clark joined Up To Date on World AIDS Day to discuss the stigma and advancements in care for individuals living with HIV/AIDS.

The United States recorded its first case of AIDS in 1981. On World AIDS Day, a survivor and a physician discuss how public perception and treatment of the disease has changed over 40 years.

Joseph Clark was 25 in 1985 when he was diagnosed with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. A doctor gave him just six months to live. Thirty-seven years after his diagnosis, Clark said he has seen changes not only in his medical treatment but how he's treated by the public.

What used to be a death sentence, and then a disease treated with a cocktail of prescription drugs, can now be managed with a single daily pill, according to Dr. Benjamin Grin, assistant professor of primary care at Kansas City University.

Clark and Dr. Grin joined Clark on Up To Date to reflect on public perception, problematic laws and treatment advancements over the last four decades.

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