[The problems in France created by the HIV/AIDS epidemic at the onset of the third millenium]

The HIV/AIDS epidemic represented a medical, social and political challenge to our society. It raises numerous questions, to which some replies have been partially proposed. In the context of less attention paid to AIDS, the epidemic continues to create problems in France and has led to the debates on medical and sanitary questions and other political, social and economical issues. FROM A THERAPEUTIC POINT OF VIEW: Among the issues concerning health management, those related to treatment are first-line: progress in therapeutic indications, choice of antiretroviral molecules and their combinations, particular aspects of treatments delivered in certain circumstances (pregnant women or primary-infection), difficulties in the assessment of the benefit/risk progress. The problems of compliance that occasionally induce severe side effects, provoke therapeutic failure in some patients and for whom rapid access to new antiretroviral molecules and new therapeutic strategies is mandated. THE CROSS-LINK WITH POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS: The resulting debates partly depend on the progress made in therapeutics. The latter have led to expectations of HIV-infected patients, who would like to benefit fully from the promise of a return to normal life (access to insurance and medically-assisted procreation). HIV/AIDS has led to new ethical debates on the rights of patients, such as those related to screening, clinical research or confidential access of under-aged patients to treatment. Some of these aspects involve political decisions: prevention measures to be taken against the possibility of a new epidemic, the risks and damages related to the use of drugs and the guarantee of access to treatment of patients living in under-developed countries.