Wikipedia:Today's featured article/August 17, 2008



Ryan White (1971–1990) was a young man from Kokomo, Indiana who became a national poster child for HIV/AIDS, after being expelled from school because of his infection. A hemophiliac, he became infected with HIV from a contaminated blood treatment and, when diagnosed in 1984, was given six months to live. Though doctors said he posed no risk to other students, AIDS was poorly understood at the time and when White tried to return to school, many parents and teachers in Kokomo rallied against him. A lengthy legal battle with the school system ensued, and media coverage of the struggle made White into a national celebrity and spokesman for AIDS research and public education. He appeared frequently in the media with celebrities such as singer Elton John, pop star Michael Jackson and talk show host Phil Donahue. Surprising his doctors, White lived five years longer than predicted and died in April 1990, shortly before he would have completed high school. Before White, AIDS was largely viewed as a disease associated with homosexual communities. Over the course of the 1980s and 1990s that perception shifted as White and other prominent people with HIV, such as the Ray brothers, Magic Johnson and Kimberly Bergalis, appeared widely in the media advocating more AIDS research and public education. The U.S. Congress passed a major piece of AIDS legislation, the Ryan White Care Act shortly after White's death. The Act was reauthorized in 2006; its Ryan White Programs are the largest provider of services for people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States. (more...)

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