ABSTRACT
Epidemics are not static, and in the short history of the AIDS epidemic there have been rapid changes to the conditions affecting the community response. Shifts both in the epidemiology of the epidemic and the possibilities for treatment have had a major impact on the nature of the community response. In 10 years AIDS has developed its own economy, with hundreds of millions of dollars involved in pharmaceutical research, hospital wards, foreign aid, and international conferences. In the United States, doctors specializing in HIV advertise with billboards on West Hollywood streets, and take out full page color advertisements in gay magazines. Growing numbers of professionals depend on the epidemic for their careers, and international consultancies further benefit those from the rich world in the name of helping the poor.
