The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a slow-growing retrovirus that eventually causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome commonly known as AIDS. This combined disease known as HIV/AIDS is called a pandemic and has sparked controversy around the world. The disease begins when an infected person transmits the HIV virus through sexual secretions, blood transfusions or dirty needles. The virus enters through vaginal or anal openings and open cuts. Once the virus enters a person's bloodstream, they become infected with HIV, but they do not necessarily have AIDS (WEBMD). Symptoms of HIV include lethargy or drowsiness, weight loss, and flu-like symptoms after a while. AIDS eventually develops and is the final or most advanced stage of the disease. The symptoms are the same as HIV and also include vision loss, weight loss, memory loss. , and ultimately organ failure (AIDS.gov) The first cases of AIDS were reported by young gay men in New York and San Francisco. (HRSA) What was first considered a gay disease quickly became one that anyone could get. unprotected sex or receiving blood from an HIV-positive person, without eighteen-year-old Ryan White, a hemophiliac who contracted AIDS after a blood transfusion, the stereotype that it is a disease " gay” would endure. With widespread panic and lack of public knowledge about the disease, an epidemic swept the world in the early 1980s and continues today. Thanks to numerous researches, public explanations, films and songs, the world quickly understood the disease better and AIDS victims were no longer persecuted as much. In the 90s, a few musicians decided to educate the world through their music...... middle of paper ......4. .McEntire, Reba. Reba My story. Chicago: Bantam, 1994. 0553572385. eBook. Sawyer, Dianne, anyway. Princess Diana's speech on HIV/AIDS. ABC NEWS, 1998. web. April 1, 2014. .Tennant, Neil, perf. Dreaming of the queen. Prod. Chris Lowe. Kobalt Records, 1994. web. April 1, 2014. .Unknown, . “Latest UK statistics.” NAT. National AIDS Trust, June 15, 2013. Web. April 1, 2014. Unknown, . “Princess Diana.” NAT HIV AWARENESS. National AIDS Trust, April 12, 2011. Web. April 1, 2014. .Web MD, . “HIV and AIDS: Symptoms and types.”WebMD. Web MD, March 25, 2014. Web. April 1 2014. .