1996
Combination Therapy Transforms HIV Treatment
Health
In 1996, triple-drug antiretroviral therapy, often called highly active antiretroviral therapy or HAART, showed that HIV replication could be durably suppressed. The breakthrough combined existing drugs with new protease inhibitors, changing the clinical prospects for many people living with HIV.
Impact & Significance
Combination therapy helped transform HIV from an almost universally fatal diagnosis into a manageable long-term condition for people with access to treatment, reshaping activism, care, prevention and public expectations.
Reference Record
- Date
- 1996
- Era
- 1990-1999
- Sources
- 1
This timeline entry is being migrated into the reference platform. Source metadata and editorial review status will be strengthened as each topic is upgraded.
Questions This Event Helps Answer
Q How did HIV/AIDS shape LGBTQ+ history? HIV/AIDS shaped LGBTQ+ history through bereavement, stigma, public health campaigning, community care, treatment activism, and major medical advances. Q How did HIV/AIDS change public health and activism? HIV/AIDS changed public health by forcing faster surveillance, treatment approval, community-led prevention, visible memorialisation and international awareness.
Related Events
1987 AZT Approved as First Antiretroviral Drug for HIV/AIDS 1988 First World AIDS Day Observed 1991 Red Ribbon Launched as AIDS Awareness Symbol 2008 Timothy Ray Brown Becomes First Person Cured of HIV 2012 FDA Approves PrEP for HIV Prevention 2014 UNAIDS Launches 90-90-90 Treatment Targets 2019 Adam Castillejo Confirmed as Second Person Cured of HIV 2020 PrEP Routinely Available on the NHS in England
