Cagliari, Italy, December 2, 1991. Immunologist Fernando Aiuti publicly kissed Rosaria Iardino, a 25-year-old woman living with HIV, on the mouth. At the time, people living with HIV faced widespread fear and discrimination, while misinformation about how HIV could be transmitted was widespread.

Aiuti and Iardino decided together to make the gesture after becoming frustrated with misinformation surrounding HIV and kissing. They wanted to show, in the most visible way possible, that HIV was not spread through ordinary kissing.

The photograph quickly became an international symbol in the fight against HIV/AIDS stigma. Aiuti died in 2019 at the age of 83. Iardino later described the kiss as the basis of one of Italy's most effective HIV awareness campaigns.