Psychosocial issues for patients with AIDS-related cancers

The social, psychological, and ethical challenge of AIDS, specifically AIDS-related cancers, is as complex as the biological and medical. Both the patient and his or her sexual partner experience a number of stresses to which they must adapt. AIDS also poses a challenge to professionals and to the social fabric of countries in which it occurs. One test of the worth of a society is the way in which it handles its fears, its sick, and its stigmatized individuals. The challenge to us all is to respond to this disease, to those endangered by it, to those overwhelmed by their fear, and to those who contract it with the clarity of thought, scientific excellence, high ethical standards, and human compassion that enables all of us to continue life with dignity and meaning.