Current approaches to prevention of HIV infections

The HIV education and prevention strategy of the Centers for Disease Control has three principal components: (a) public information and education, (b) education for school-aged populations, and (c) risk reduction education and individual counseling and testing services for people at increased risk of HIV infection. The most visible components of the public information and education programs are the National Public Information Campaign ("America Responds to AIDS"), the National AIDS Hotline system, and the National AIDS Information Clearinghouse. Components of the youth education program consist of funding for national health and education organizations, funding for State and local education departments, training, surveillance of education efforts, and evaluation. Counseling and testing has entailed performance of approximately 2,500,000 HIV antibody tests with pre- and post-test counseling, notification and counseling of sexual and needle-sharing partners of those infected with HIV, and targeted risk reduction education through community-based organizations. Over time, these activities will continue to evolve and become more effective.