[AIDS: ethical drift]

AIDS is not merely a new viral disease, or an unprecedented variety of acquired immune deficiency. It is an STD equally transmitted by blood and birth, it has for the last eleven years, baffled all the assault attempted by the most competent researchers, it is lethal in the vas majority of cases, it has reached a planetary dimension. Its prevention interferes as well with more than one religion's prescriptions and will undoubtedly interfere with sexual fulfillment. Finally, it reminds us that what we call ethics is fragile, that it is actually based on an agreement and that it can be drastically modified if a majority of citizens are under threat.