ABSTRACT
It is generally accepted that, in the continued and continuing absence of a vaccine or cure for HIV disease, education to bring about the widespread adoption of those sexual and drug injecting practices which do not transmit the virus is the only realistic option open to us by which to halt the global epidemic. Given the current state of medical knowledge about sexual transmission, coupled with the range of technologies which enable information to be disseminated around the world, it might be expected that the rate at which HIV is transmitted by sexual contact would by now have slowed almost to a standstill. At one level the information needed to prevent sexual transmission is so simple and straightforward that it should theoretically be possible for each and every individual to avoid infection and, if infected, to protect their sexual partners. Yet this is clearly not happening. Indeed, recent figures show that in Britain, where vast sums of money have been spent on public education campaigns, the rate of sexual transmission among heterosexuals is on the increase (Adler, 1990).
