On Jan. 4, 1983, epidemiologic evidence that the AIDS agent was blood-borne led to official meetings and public and private decisions that set the pattern of the blood industry’s response to AIDS, starting with a public meeting convened by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.

Later that month, the leading blood bank organizations and, separately, the National Hemophilia Foundation (NHF) and the plasma fractionation industry issued statements. In March 1983, the Assistant Secretary for Health promulgated the first official PHS recommendations for preventing AIDS, and the FDA codified safe practices for plasma collection.