In 1981, the annual number of deaths among people with Aids was 451. By the time Bush left office, that figure was 40,000

One of the negative legacies of George HW Bush’s presidency was his inaction in the face of an Aids epidemic that has killed over half a million Americans. In the obituaries that followed his death, Bush’s record on Aids was often only mentioned briefly, if at all.

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During his term in office, from 1989 to 1993, Bush’s homophobia contributed to Washington’s culture of denial about the spread of the virus. He emphasized “behavioral change” among the LGBTQ community rather than developing treatments. He also, in office, described same-sex relationships as “lifestyles that are, in my view, not the normal lifestyle”.

You can see the impact of his inaction in the chart here. In 1981, the estimated annual number of deaths among persons living with Aids in the United States was 451. By the time he was leaving office in 1993, that figure had soared to over 40,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That year, HIV infection was the leading cause of death for men in the United States from 25 to 44.

Bush signed two bills which helped tackle the crisis. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 protected those with the disease from discrimination and the Ryan White Care Act became the largest federally funded program for HIV and Aids patients. But activists like Urvashi Vaid, who led the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force from 1989 to 1992, point out that both bills only came into being after intense pressure by Aids activists.

In the years since Bush left office, the annual rate of US Aids deaths has fallen considerably as new treatments have been developed. But those drugs remain too expensive for many.

The CDC’s latest estimates show that the virus continues to spread. There were approximately 38,500 new infections in 2015 and currently over 1.1 million people in the US are living with the virus.

This is a new column that illustrates numbers from the news each week. Have feedback or ideas for future columns? Write to me mona.chalabi@theguardian.com.