The unhealthy nature of the practices combined with extensive promiscuity and myriad drug abuse lead to AIDS. The role of HIV was trumped up (exagerated) to address the obvious association with practices in the community.
The excesses of the 70’s have waned and as a consequence, so have AIDS deaths.
Plus tens of billions of dollars spent on developing anti-virals and ongoing investment of health insurance to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars per case annually.