First HIV Infection in Singapore
Thursday, 16th May 1985
The first case of HIV infection in Singapore was detected in May 1985 and this patient was warded at the Middleton Hospital which later became the Communicable Diseases Centre. Soon after this two more cases were reported. All the three cases of AIDS here were discovered by Dr. K.V. Ratnam, a dermato-immunologist at the Middle Road Hospital. The government reacted immediately to the discovery of HIV-positive cases in Singapore by forming the Advisory Committee on AIDS in the same year, 1985. This committee formulated an action plan called the National AIDS Control Programme to implement control measures for the prevention of HIV incidences in Singapore.