HIV is no longer always a death sentence

Charlie Sheen is one of 35 million people living with the virus and treatments mean he is likely to be able to keep illness at bay

In 1985, when a shocked world learned that the actor Rock Hudson had Aids, and six years later, when Queen's lead singer, Freddie Mercury, died the day after he had made his diagnosis public, HIV was a death sentence and carried a massive stigma.

Related: Charlie Sheen reveals he is HIV positive: 'It's a hard three letters to absorb'