30 years of AIDS

It was in June 1981 that reports emerged of an unusual pneumonia affecting young men in the United States. Today, we recognise these patients as representing the first cases of AIDS, a disease that has gone on to infect 60 million million people and kill half as many.

We start our show in Los Angeles, where we speak to Dr Michael Gottlieb, one of the first immunologists to discover the AIDS-causing virus.

Next, could AIDS treatment be a form of prevention? The latest major medical breakthrough suggests antiretroviral medication can help stop the epidemic's spread.

And finally, should HIV patients be allowed to donate organs?  We consider the arguments for and against reversing a ban on transplanting infected organs.