The Childrens Aids Fund International has been engaged in responding to HIV and AIDS from the beginning. The epidemic was truly not understood in the early days. Physicians were seeing symptom clusters that were soon called the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Within just three years researchers had identified the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) as the cause of AIDS.
See the timeline of CAFI’s 25 years of service here.×
The nation’s medical experts worked 24/7 to learn more about this mysterious new epidemic as it spread across America and the world. The Children’s AIDS Fund International was founded as Americans for a Sound AIDS Policy in early 1987 to address the full spectrum of HIV disease from a traditional medical/public health perspective in the hopes of limiting total suffering.
Five foundational tenets of promoting early diagnosis; sound intervention strategies; compassion for those affected and infected; development of diagnostics, therapies, vaccines, and ultimately a cure; and access to health care have informed our work since that time. As our collective understanding of HIV disease and the US national and global response to it have evolved, CAFI has sought to identify and fill information, program and service gaps; be responsive to emerging issues; and engage the general public in an issue that too often was only a priority for those personally impacted.
Throughout our history, CAFI has worked with medical experts, the US military, bi-partisan government leaders, corporations, faith leaders, parents and children to help limit the suffering caused by HIV disease. Our work has been to support the most effective approaches and to strategically create partnerships to deliver help where it is needed most.
For our 25 years of service, many congratulation messages are being sent to CAFI from around the globe.
