12 December 1981
First UK AIDS Case Reported
Health UK
The first UK death from what is now recognised as AIDS was reported in The Lancet. The patient, later identified as John Eaddie, a 49-year-old from Harrogate, had died on 29 October 1981 at the Royal Brompton Hospital from Pneumocystis pneumonia. His case was the earliest known AIDS-related death in Britain, preceding the founding of the Terrence Higgins Trust the following year.
Impact & Significance
Signalled the arrival of HIV/AIDS in the UK, setting the stage for the crisis that would transform British public health policy and LGBTQ+ activism.
Reference Record
- Date
- 12 December 1981
- Era
- 1970-1989
- Sources
- 1
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