1989 - Alison Gertz, living with HIV-AIDS, testimony of an activist (WHO archive)

Video Description

Alison L. Gertz (February 27, 1966 – August 8, 1992) was an American AIDS activist in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1989, Alison chose to publicly share her story and started communicating to educate others about AIDS and dispel the myths and misconceptions surrounding the disease. She stated: "All the AIDS articles are about homosexuals or poor people on drugs, and unfortunately a lot of people just flip by them. They think it doesn't apply to them. They can't turn the page on me. I could be one of them, or their daughter. They have to deal with this. I want to talk to these kids who think they're immortal. I want to tell them: I'm heterosexual, and it took only one time for me." Alison died of AIDS-related pneumonia. This documentary was made by Leslie Jenkins for the World Health Organization.