HIV infection and intervention: the first decade

Integrated intervention strategies, appropriate to the specific socioeconomic context, are required to address the needs of the 18 million adults projected to be infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) by the year 2000. Such interventions must operate on two levels. The first is aimed at minimizing the devastating effects of HIV and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) on individuals, while the second is geared toward halting HIV transmission in populations. The median two-year survival time for people with AIDS had doubled from 10 months before 1987 to 20 months in 1990, primarily because of treatments such as zidovudine that slow down the rate of virus replication, but AIDS patients who survive longer develop more intractable opportunistic infections than in the past. Viral transmission throughout populations can be halted only through a comprehensive strategy that addresses agent, host, and environmental factors in a complementary manner. For example, whether or not high-risk individuals will be willing and able to adopt safer sex practices depends, in large part, on the social, economic, and psychological forces acting on and within those individuals. Finally, public attitudes toward sexuality, drug use, and racial discrimination comprise the moral context in which AIDS prevention strategies must be implemented. The mass media, which have already created public awareness of the problem and corrected many misconceptions, must continue to motivate individuals to adopt behavioral changes that reduce the risk of HIV infection.