WASHINGTON – Just days ahead of the observance of 30 years since the first cases of HIV/AIDS were diagnosed, the White House conducted an online news conference on Wednesday that touched on the history and the progress made in the fight against the disease.

HIV/AIDS has had a profound global impact. About 25 million people have died since 1981, when doctors first identified the disease. More than 60 million people are infected with the disease, officials said, and few people have not known of someone who has died of AIDS.