Kaposi’s sarcoma

Doctors at Mamo Yemo hospital in Kinshasa report a doubling of cases of Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS). Though not diagnosed at the time, this is later attributed to HIV. This pattern isn’t seen elsewhere in the city or in neighbouring Brazzaville until the late 1970s, suggesting HIV is only just becoming epidemic in the region.

In the next few years the city sees a rise in KS, wasting and cryptococcal meningitis. Retrospective HIV testing of blood samples from an antenatal clinic has shown that HIV prevalence among pregnant women rose from 0.2% in the early 1970s to 3% by 1980.