The Landmark Aids Centre is a day centre in Tulse Hill, London which offers treatment and support for HIV/AIDS patients. The center is located in London's Middlesex Hospital.[1] It was officially opened on 25 July 1989 by Diana, Princess of Wales.[2][3] She gave director Jonathan Grimshaw — diagnosed HIV positive — a firm handshake before going inside the centre for a private tour.[2] At a time when police dealing with AIDS patients still wore rubber gloves, this was the first attempt to de-stigmatise the condition by a high-profile member of the Royal Family.[2]

The Landmark Aids Centre marked the first of its type in the city of London.[4] The first case of AIDS in the United Kingdom was reported in 1981 by Dr. Tony Pinching and the Landmark Aids Centre opened 8 years after following a "Don't Die of Ignorance" public awareness campaign brought about by an increasing number of diagnoses and deaths within the United Kingdom.[2] Princess Diana was addressing a serious matter at a time when British society and the media regularly criticized AIDS patients because there was little to no information about the disease.[1] The facility was initially met with criticism from media outlets and John O’Reilly, former HIV/AIDS nurse of the ward, stated, “The media were unkind, particularly the Tabloid Press.” He continued and said, “I didn’t tell anybody what I did. I didn’t even tell fellow nurses or doctors what I did. I just said I was a nurse at the Middlesex Hospital. I didn’t feel safe."[1]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c "How Princess Diana changed attitudes to Aids". BBC News. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d "1989: Diana opens Landmark Aids Centre". BBC News Online. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  3. ^ "HIV/Aids: a timeline of the disease and its mutations". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  4. ^ "How Princess Diana's Humanitarian Causes Have Fared, 20 Years On". Time. Retrieved 27 April 2020.

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