EDUCATION AND PREVENTION efforts and dramatic advances in drug treatments have slowed the rate of HIV infection in the United States, Europe, and Australia. But the AIDS virus is spreading quickly elsewhere in the world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, India, and Thailand. Many researchers say the global epidemic, or pandemic, promises to grow even worse over the next decade. "Projections for the HIV/AIDS pandemic are grim. . . . [I]t is clear that the years to come will be much more difficult than the . . . years since AIDS was first recognized," a team of researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health writes.

A grim future

Projections for the near future are indeed grim. Researchers estimate the number of HIV-infected people worldwide will reach anywhere from 40 to 110 million by the year 2000, with as many as 15 to 50 million in India alone. This represents a substantial...