The Year in HIV

January 7: Clemens Ruland of The Netherlands became the first HIV-positive tourist to visit the United States following the formal end of a 22-year-old law barring HIV-positive foreigners from entering the country. Ruland, who was granted the American trip after winning an essay contest from a Dutch AIDS organization, landed in New York for a week-long trip of shopping and sight-seeing with his partner. January 12: A catastrophic 7.0 earthquake hit the impoverished Caribbean nation of Haiti. The country's 200,000 HIV-positive citizens found themselves in dire need of antiretroviral medications, of which American organizations like New York-based Aid for AIDS International helped deliver. A cholera epidemic late in the year further complicated health matters in Haiti. January 27: Zelda Rubinstein, (pictured above) the diminutive actress who starred in films and shows like Poltergeist, Sixteen Candles, and Picket Fences, died in Los Angeles. Rubinstein was one of the first celebrities to take part in an AIDS awareness campaign'in 1983, Rubinstein played 'Mother' in safe-sex advertisements featured on buses and billboards that were eventually shown around the world.

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