In 1983 the AIDS virus, HIV, was isolated by virologists at the Institut Pasteur. There was no treatment at the time, and individuals infected with HIV generally died from this new disease. But in 1996, highly-active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) was introduced in the Global North, before becoming available in the Global South from 2001 onwards. Pauline Londeix, former Vice-President of Act Up-Paris and co-founder of the Observatory for Transparency in Drug Policies (OTMeds), looks back at this period.