Ryan White
American AIDS spokesperson and "poster boy" (1971–1990) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Ryan Wayne White (December 6, 1971 – April 8, 1990)[1] was an American teenager from Kokomo, Indiana, who became a national poster child for HIV/AIDS in the United States after failing to be readmitted to school following an AIDS diagnosis. As a hemophiliac, he became infected with HIV from a contaminated blood treatment (Factor VIII) and, when diagnosed in December 1984, was given six months to live.
A lengthy administrative appeal process ensued, and news of the conflict turned Ryan into a popular celebrity and advocate for AIDS research and public education. Surprising his doctors, Ryan White lived five years longer than predicted but died in April 1990, one month before his high school graduation.
The United States Congress passed a major piece of AIDS legislation, the Ryan White CARE Act, shortly after White's death. The Act has been reauthorized twice; Ryan White Programs are the largest provider of services for people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States.
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