When the AIDS epidemic began in the 1980s, it was a time of fear, panic, misinformation and deaths. Thought to be a “gay men’s disease” in those days, AIDS became stigmatized with lifestyle and sexuality rather than scientific understanding about its transmission.

It’s been 41 years since the U.S. saw its first reported cases of HIV. We now know more about how HIV/AIDS is transmitted and how to treat it so AIDS it is no longer the death sentence it was once considered to be. Now, around 20,000 Tennesseans are living with HIV, according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

December 1 is Worlds AIDS Day. In this episode, we’ll talk with people living with HIV and those who have been on the frontlines providing services and education to battle AIDS in Middle Tennessee since the early days of the virus. We’ll also look at how our understanding of the AIDS epidemic provided a bedrock of understanding when COVID-19 took off.

But first, we’ll be joined by Tennessee Lookout Senior Reporter Anita Wadhwani, who reported on how the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services has been housing children in hospitals.

Guests: 

• Anita Wadhwani, Tennessee Lookout senior reporter
• Joseph Interrante, PhD, former CEO of Nashville CARES
• Dwayne Jenkins, GLBT prevention and education services director at Nashville CARES
• Regina Beck, Davidson County resident living with HIV
• Brandon Jones, public relations and social media manager at Nashville CARES
• Dr. Aimalohi Ahonkhai, infectious diseases physician and co-director of the Center for AIDS Research Scientific Working Group on Social Determinants of Health

Additional reading: 

• ‘This is not a death sentence’: Advocates want Tennessee to reexamine its HIV criminalization laws