In 1991 NBA basketball player Earvin “Magic” Johnson announces he is HIV positive. The following year he is chosen for the U.S. Olympic team and uses the spotlight to promote understanding about the epidemic.
DDL (didanosine) is the second drug for the treatment of AIDS to be approved by the FDA. 2
FIRST RWCA GRANTS AWARDED UNDER NEW AIDS BILL
With ink barely dry on the new Ryan White CARE Act, HRSA distributed its first grants in April 1991. Working virtually nonstop, agency staff created grant guidelines, carried out administrative guidelines, and worked with funding applicants to build administrative structures as rapidly as possible. Staff also labored to ensure that funds were spent locally in a manner that would achieve the greatest impact.
“We really felt like we were doing some good,” says Shelly Gordon of HRSA, who remembers an early Sunday morning call to her home from a HRSA official. “We were excited about the work, so we did what we had to do,” she adds. “If that meant going in on Sunday or working late into the night, that’s what we did.”
First year appropriations are summarized below.
