AIDS in the 1980s

The media portrayal of AIDS and the related, often government backed, advertising campaigns of the mid/late 1980's through to the mid 1990's would serve to stigmatise and drive the Haemophilia community into secrecy. In short, the media message was that if you had the AIDS virus you were either a sexual deviant, a drug user or otherwise an "undesirable". Ironically some MP's of the time even described the disease as "self-inflicted".

Below we take a look back at how AIDS was portrayed in the media throughout this time. The social stigma ensured that many affected by the Contaminated Blood Scandal and their family members, were and some still are, rather understandably, afraid to "go public".