Memory Book: 2004'2006

While crafting HIV Plus's 10th anniversary issue, we scrutinized events of the past decade to select some of its highlights'and unfortunate low points. And while it was clear that the past 10 years were neither as tumultuous as the earliest days of the pandemic nor as euphoric as those of the mid 1990s, when combination therapy forever changed treatment, the decade hasn't been without its memorable moments. We've seen HIV rates explode nationally among women and youths and among African-Americans and Latinos. There were recurring waves of infections among gay men. And we witnessed the virus gaining stronger footholds in the Caribbean, Asia, and Eastern Europe. But there also were hopeful developments'like the rise of a new generation and breed of activist, the approval of new meds offering hope to HIVers who were running out of treatment options, and fund-raisers that drew tens of thousands of people and raised millions of dollars as well as the spirits of their participants. Here, we take a look at a mere handful of those from 2004-2006. 2004

Total Recall To remind voters'and the 2004 presidential candidates'about the continued impact of HIV in the United States, panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt are displayed in Washington, D.C. Today, the quilt, which honors Americans lost to the disease, covers nearly 1.3 million square feet and weighs more than 54 tons.

Condom Couture As a visual reminder that rubber is cool, designers around the world create garments crafted entirely from latex condoms'like the one worn by Alischa Ross, founder of Australia's Youth Empowerment Against HIV/AIDS.

Star Power Celebrities play a crucial role in helping children around the world affected by HIV. Here, Brad Pitt visits AIDS orphans in South Africa through his involvement with the advocacy group DATA, formed by U2's Bono. 2005

For the Children Actress Whoopi Goldberg joins Kami, an HIV-positive Muppet on South Africa's version of Sesame Street, to launch an AIDS campaign for the United Nations Children's Fund. 2006

Marijuana as Medicine Although the federal government still criminalizes the sale and use of medicinal marijuana'which is used to curb nausea and lack of appetite as side effects of anti-HIV meds'local governments in the 12 states that legalized its use have taken steps to support distribution groups to ease access.

Nosotros no Olvidaremos A worker engraves the names of people lost to AIDS on Los Angeles's The Wall: Las Memorias, the nation's first publicly funded HIV memorial monument, prior to its unveiling ceremony in a predominantly Latino area of the city on World AIDS Day.

Setting an Example To help destigmatize and promote HIV testing among African-Americans, a group hit disproportionately hard by AIDS, leaders like Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama are choosing to publicly take the test themselves.

Future Generations Young people around the world, like these youths in India, are at the forefront of HIV education and safer-sex efforts. Half of the world's new HIV infections occur among people between ages 15 and 24.