In 1984, Coutinho, Goudsmit and their superior, Jan van der Noordaa, initiated the Amsterdam Cohort Studies (ACS) 8 on HIV/AIDS, and began testing a cohort of homosexual men. The results were alarming: 30% of the participating 750 homosexuals were infected with HIV, revealing an urgent public health issue. However, as homosexuals were in a process of emancipation, they feared discrimination and blame for bringing HIV/Aids into the world. Disease prevention did not outweigh this concern. Since Coutinho saw that both homosexuals and drug users tended not to take the danger of infection seriously (as they had previously done with venereal diseases), he used the statistics to make them aware of the scale and nature of the epidemic. His rationale was that without being open about a problem, one cannot start solving it. Also, covering up the truth implies a disdain for society and is likely to result in a loss of credibility (Coutinho 13 May 2008; Mooij 2004; Andere tijden 26 November 2002) .