This brought on the news media, TV crews, interviews, and numerous public appearances.

The Ryan White programs also provide funding and technical assistance to local and state primary medical care providers support services healthcare provider and training programs. Carnal and a handful of students who had been educated about AIDS and were unafraid to shake White's hand. On December 17 1984 during a partial-lung removal procedure White was diagnosed with AIDS.

Ryan Wayne White (December 6 1971 – April 8 1990) was an American teenager from Kokomo Indiana who became a national poster child for HIV/AIDS in the United States after being expelled from middle school because of his infection. The Act has been reauthorized twice; Ryan White Programs are the largest provider of services for people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States. Doctors said he posed no risk to other students but AIDS was poorly understood at the time and when White tried to return to school many parents and teachers in Kokomo rallied against his attendance.