The HIV/AIDS archive collections are a rich and varied resource demonstrating the national and international responses to the treatment and prevention of this devastating virus.
Materials reflect the School’s long involvement in tackling the epidemic dating back to 1980s and holds papers relating to epidemiology, AIDS activism, public health campaigns, health policy formation and contemporary history.
The LSHTM Archives holds eight collections relating to HIV/AIDS including:
Papers of Professor Peter Piot
The school’s former Director, his archives contains his epidemiological fieldwork in sub-Saharan Africa on HIV/AIDS and the Ebola Virus and his later international role as the Executive-Director of UNAIDS, 1996-2008. They provide access to one of the world’s leading agencies in fighting HIV/AIDS and document significant developments within Piot’s tenure, such as UNAIDS’ establishment, the Doha Declaration on AIDS (2001) and the formation of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Professor Virginia Berridge
Professor Virginia Berridge, Professor of History and Director of the Centre for the History of Public Health archive collections relating to her working life as a historian and social researcher including her research for the Drug Addiction Research Initiative and AIDS Social History Programme.
Her papers cover all aspects of her research on the making of health policies, studies on addiction (tobacco, drugs and alcohol) and her work on HIV/AIDS.
AIDS Social History Programme
The research group documented the history of disease as it happened and aimed to capture the response of policy makers and charity organisations to the virus.
The papers consist of reports and analysis of strategies and policies covering actions of European countries as well as the UK.
Professor Kaye Wellings
This collection of papers consists of three series of archival material principally relating to research undertaken by Professor Kaye Wellings, social scientists and known internationally for her research on sexual and reproductive health.
Material includes a mixed photographic collection of HIV/AIDS public education campaigns collected as part of EC funded programme, Concerted Action: Assessing AIDS Prevention Strategies (1988 -1991) and follow-up projects. Also includes UK AIDS press coverage collection, originally created by the Health Education Authority, spanning 1983-1993.
Centre for Sexual and Reproductive Health
Mixed media archive collection relating to European Commission project, Concerted Action: Assessing AIDS Prevention Strategies (1988 -1991), and follow-up projects, the aim of which was to provide an overview of the different HIV/AIDS prevention activities. Collection includes 734 posters and 6 boxes of ephemera.
SIGMA Research
Sigma Research is a social research group specialising in the behavioural and policy aspects of HIV and sexual health. Collection includes grey and published literature on the impact of HIV on the sexual and social lives of a variety of populations.
Fakoya Collection
This collection contains studies, reports and campaign material relating to the UK African diaspora and HIV awareness and prevention, sexual health issues and community awareness, c. 1996-2014.
The material was collected by Ibidun Fakoya when she worked as part of MESH (Migration, Ethnicity & Sexual Health programme) at University College London. The collection is linked to SIGMA, as SIGMA continued to evaluate the programme after 2009.
Papers of Dr Joseph Sonnabend
Dr Joseph Sonnabend, physician, clinical researcher and community activist played a significant role in the AIDS epidemic in the United States.
His papers include records from his Greenwich Village private practice from 1980-2000; epidemiology and research on cause and treatment of HIV/AIDs and AIDS activism groups such as AIDS Medical Foundation, Community Research Initiative and PWA Health Group. The archive also contains his earlier research on interferon in England for the Medical Research Council.
Inclusive Practice
These collections include material relating to LGBTQ+ communities and as part of our Decolonising the Archives work, we will review the catalogues of these collections for offensive language and terminology, as well as omissions and emphasis where relevant.
The collections will be used to research stories and provide information on LGBTQ+ communities which are traditionally under-represented in archives.
Funding
This project received funding from the Wellcome Trust's Research Resources in Medical History in January 2013 to catalogue and preserve the School’s HIV/AIDS collections. The project commenced in June 2013 and ended in December 2014, following a four-month extension to catalogue an additional collection.