GMHC co-founder Dr. Lawrence Mass reflects on "truly groundbreaking" HIV/AIDS education effort

The 41st annual AIDS Walk New York takes place this Sunday. The event helps raise awareness of those living with HIV and AIDS.

This year, the theme is "Walk Like An Icon." 

CBS News New York spoke with Dr. Lawrence Mass, co-founder of the Gay Men's Health Crisis, an icon of the movement who was pivotal in bringing education and understanding about this disease. 

"We did not want to create panic"

"We had no idea what this epidemic was," Mass said. 

He said his days of walking with those marchers is pretty much behind him, but from the earliest days to the present, his insights and contributions to the movement and disease are more important than ever. 

"We did not want to create panic, because we didn't know anything. You know ... we were a very vulnerable, disliked minority," Mass said. 

Mass was a vital voice from the outset of what was a coming global catastrophe. 

"We didn't know what the cause of it was, and we had no treatments," Mass said. "It was just scattered fragments of information that we had to try to put together in an environment that was very volatile." 

"We had a very bare bones, loose network"

In 1981, Mass and his friend Larry Kramer, the playwright and public health advocate, gathered with intellectuals, activists and health professionals to try and navigate this unknown illness. 

"We had a very bare bones, loose network in some major cities of physicians with private practices that catered to gay men," Mass said. "And we were practicing our own versions of what we called 'community medicine.'" 

The medical investigations ramped up. 

"It would be three years before that epidemiology was firmly established and the cause of HIV was firmly established," Mass said. 

Activism to spur and action and awareness did, too. There were marches, protests, and civil disobedience. 

"That was truly groundbreaking"

Mass stayed the course to help educate a vulnerable population 

"They put out a safer sex manual, how to have sex in an epidemic, early on that was truly groundbreaking. And whatever your theory was, they espoused very strongly the use of condoms," Mass said. 

It's reported that there are 30,000 new infections every year, even with new drugs and continued educational campaigns. Mass said a new cause of concern is the recent spike in HIV and AIDS infections in Africa that many believe is due to diminished funding. 

Mass adds that, as the AIDS Walk continues to galvanize broad swaths of the population, that activism still drives awareness, and always spurs hope.

"For me personally, this has never been a more exciting or fulfilling or enriching time. You know, I feel terrific about my life and my work and my causes," Mass said.