30 Years of AIDS: Dr. Jeffrey Levi From Trust for America's Health

In the third installment of our six-week video series, Trust for America's Health Executive Director Dr. Jeffrey Levi discusses 30 years of AIDS in the United States.

Dr. Levi became involved in the early days of HIV as a gay rights and civil rights activist. Now on the faculty at George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, Dr. Levi describes the challenge of relaying the history of HIV to his students:

"I think it's hard to convey how hard it was to be making decisions or urging certain types of decisions with such a high level of scientific uncertainty. That was very very scary stuff. I don't know that I've faced anything like that since in the broad range of issues that I deal with, but it was incredibly good training in understanding how you talk about issues like this in a time of uncertainty."

As a former Deputy Director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy under President Clinton, many firsts happened while Dr. Levi served in the White House. The video below features a full interview of Dr. Levi as he discusses HIV and politics, the history of the federal government and HIV, and talking to today's young generation about HIV.

Mindy Nichamin is the AIDS.gov new media coordinator.