HIV/AIDS legal issues in the United States

The HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to be a leading public health issue in the United States. During the past decade, the epidemic has shifted away from the gay community, although gay and bisexual men continue to be the largest single HIV exposure category. Now, HIV increasingly affects low-income people of colour in urban areas, as well as women. As AIDS becomes more and more a minority, inner-city disease, public focus on the epidemic as a significant social and political issue is waning. While a full survey of current issues in US law is beyond the scope of this article, the focus here is on current issues that are highly relevant to the direction the epidemic appears to be taking.