ABSTRACT
The first, and indisputably the most important, objective of the World Health Organisation's Global Program on AIDS is to prevent infection with HIV (WHO, 1992). This objective is increasingly important for, though the HIV epidemic has entered its second decade, promises of vaccine and cure remain unfulfilled. Even were a successful vaccine or therapy to appear, this would not eliminate the need for preventive education. Already some countries in the developing world have indicated that current treatments such as AZT will not be made available. Moreover, no prophylactic nor therapeutic strategies which successfully grapple with the dual difficulties of availability and affordability have been promulgated, especially in the developing world where the brunt of the epidemic is being borne. Consequently it would be unwise for the world to become too dependent on a biological arsenal, even were it stocked with still fictional preventive and curative weaponry.
