1996
Combination Therapy Transforms HIV Treatment
Health
In 1996, triple-drug antiretroviral therapy, often called highly active antiretroviral therapy or HAART, showed that HIV replication could be durably suppressed. The breakthrough combined existing drugs with new protease inhibitors, changing the clinical prospects for many people living with HIV.
Impact & Significance
Combination therapy helped transform HIV from an almost universally fatal diagnosis into a manageable long-term condition for people with access to treatment, reshaping activism, care, prevention and public expectations.
Reference Record
- Date
- 1996
- Era
- 1990-1999
- Sources
- 1
Editorially reviewed — reviewed · last reviewed 2026-06-01.
Questions This Event Helps Answer
Q How did HIV/AIDS shape LGBTQ+ history? HIV/AIDS shaped LGBTQ+ history through bereavement, stigma, public health campaigning, community care, treatment activism, and major medical advances. Q How did HIV/AIDS change public health and activism? HIV/AIDS changed public health by forcing faster surveillance, treatment approval, community-led prevention, visible memorialisation and international awareness.
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