In 1983 AIDS was still a mysterious – and terrifying – new condition. We were all desperately trying to make sense of it and scrambling for information about symptoms and prevention.

Gay and nascent AIDS organisations did what they could to get out what little concrete information there was. As part of this, the Gay Medical Association produced one of the UK’s first AIDS information leaflet. It’s an intriguing timepiece.

Under the heading How Common is AIDS? it reads:

By late June 1983 there were about 1,800 cases worldwide, while there were less than 1,000 cases one year before that date. At present we know of 14 cases in the United Kingdom and the numbers are increasing.

Under How Serious Is AIDS? the answer is:

As many as 80% of cases have died within three years of diagnosis.

Whilst the numbers are miniscule compared to what they are now, the prognosis for people was far worse than it is today. In consequence, there was also a section on How Can You Reduce The Risk of Getting AIDS? Once again, the response made for interesting reading: partly because of the conjecture as to the cause of AIDS but also because of the recommendations it gave:

It is likely that AIDS is due to an infectious agent, possibly a virus, with an incubation period of up to two years. AIDS can be passed through sexual partners or through some kinds of blood transfusion. Therefore you should consider:

• Reducing the number of different people you have sex with to those you KNOW to be in good health.
• Avoiding sexual contact with people who have been in North America in the last two years.

We do not suggest that you cut down on sex, but that you should have sex with fewer and healthy people.

Within a year or so that advice would be deemed to be seriously out-of-date. We very quickly came to realise that it was what you did sexually that was the key issue, not how many people you had sex with. And as for being able to KNOW who was in good health…

I was particularly disgruntled because the leaflet had, in theory at least, made me a sexual leper. Having returned from a two-week holiday in San Francisco earlier that year (where I had happily and safely had sex) I was now a person to be avoided!

Thankfully I was mixing (and sleeping) in well-educated circles at that time so there was no noticeable impact on my sex life (not that the bar was set particularly high in the first place!).

And the information was updated shortly thereafter too.