ABSTRACT
The human immune virus (HIV) epidemic and its impact will only be overcome if men and women begin to forge true partnerships of mutual respect and trust and of equitable sharing of the burdens of sadness, pain, care and support created by the epidemic. There are two important characteristics of the HIV epidemic which need to be acknowledged and understood, by national leaders in particular, for they will affect and determine the nature of the response to the epidemic in the Asian and Pacific region. First, the epidemic is at one and the same time both a crisis and an endemic condition. Second, the epidemic manifests itself both as a specific problem but also as a pervasive one. The stories of the affected provide access to lives which are subtle and various, which present the experience of living within the epidemic in the complex, interrelated way life usually asserts itself.
