Dr. Peter 20/20: Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of The Dr. Peter Diaries on CBC-TV

It all started on the CBC Evening News on September 10, 1990:

“I’m going to be introducing you to someone with AIDS to help provide a name, a face, and an identity to this disease. The person I’m going to introduce you to is myself. I’m a doctor, but I’m also a patient – a patient with AIDS.”

This is how Dr. Peter Jepson-Young began the first of his Dr. Peter Diaries. For many people, it was their first introduction to someone with AIDS. Over the next two years, up to within two weeks of his death, 111 episodes of the Diaries were aired. Dr. Peter quite simply changed the way people thought of HIV/AIDS.

Both Dr. Peter and CBC-TV showed remarkable courage by providing dignity and a human face to the HIV/AIDS epidemic at a time when stigma and discrimination were rampant.

The Diaries were so successful that CBC-TV and HBO collaborated to produce a documentary compilation, The Broadcast Tapes of Dr. Peter, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1994. It was the same year that Tom Hanks won Best Actor for his role in Philadelphia. Through that serendipity, Tom Hanks became an Honorary Patron of the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation.

Just weeks before his death in 1992, Dr. Peter established the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation to provide Comfort Care for people living with HIV/AIDS. Today, the Dr. Peter Centre is recognized locally, nationally and internationally for its innovative model of care addressing today’s challenges in HIV/AIDS care.

In 2008, The BC Almanac Book of Greatest British Columbians recognized Dr. Peter as one of British Columbia’s Crusaders and Reformers, noting that he “changed the way we think about the disease” – a remarkable distinction in a province with a history of being on the vanguard of HIV/AIDS activism and research.

On September 10, 2010, we will launch Dr. Peter 20/20 – a celebration of the past 20 years of Dr. Peter’s legacy and our vision for the next 20 years.

From September 10th to World AIDS Day on December 1st, Dr. Peter 20/20 will honour this Canadian milestone with special events and engagements. Stay tuned!