On 23 April 1984, US Health and Human Services Secretary Margaret Heckler announced that scientists had identified the virus responsible for acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), naming it HTLV-III.
The discovery, made by researchers at the US National Cancer Institute led by Dr Robert Gallo, marked a pivotal breakthrough in the global effort to understand and combat the growing epidemic.
HTLV-III was later confirmed to be the same as the virus isolated by French scientists at the Pasteur Institute and was subsequently renamed HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus).