Browse Items (3 total)

As AIDS became more widely known, the Red Cross sought to reassure the public of the safety of blood donation.

In the early 80s, not much was known about AIDS or HIV. It was erroneously and dangerously characterized by the media as a disease affecting gay men, African Americans, and drug users.

The emergence and rapid spread of AIDS in the 1980s led to fears about procedures such as blood donation. Very little was known about the cause of the disease, which later was discovered to be a virus called HIV.