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A meeting in March 1987 at the Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center in New York's West Village would go on to change the national conversation on AIDS in America.

At the time there were 50,000 reported cases of AIDS in America, and 40,000 deaths - and largely silence from the country鈥檚 President, Ronald Reagan.

"It was very obvious that our government was going to let us die," says activist Peter Staley.

The formation of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power - ACT UP - put unprecedented pressure on the US government to speed up the approval of new treatments for people living with AIDS, and expand access to trials of experimental new drugs.

In this episode Maria Maggenti and Peter Staley recall their time with ACT UP, and how its public demonstrations, which frequently brought New York to a standstill, helped improve access to potentially life-saving treatments for people living with HIV-AIDS and other diseases.

Narrator: Chris Pavlo
Producer: Richard Fenton-Smith