UNAIDS helps to put the issue of individual denial in perspective. "Social factors such as power relationships and gender inequalities make some groups more vulnerable to HIV", the Programme reports. "What good is it to a woman to know how HIV is transmitted when she has no choice but to have sex with an unfaithful husband?" Barrett elaborates: "For many people in South Africa, especially women, behaviour change is simply beyond their control. It is believed that married women with only one partner are now highly vulnerable to HIV infection. You also can't underestimate the fact that there is no cure for AIDS and very little relief for people in African countries, once infected."

"Prevention fatigue" and the "norm" of safer sex passing out of the public consciousness were mentioned by other correspondents as reasons why some people may have reverted to unsafe behaviour. "In the United States and other wealthy countries", explains Sawyer, "the introduction of life-prolonging medications has misled a lot of people. We don't see the illness, suffering and death around us anymore, so the sense of urgency around prevention has decreased."

What is the solution to overcoming denial of the existence of HIV and AIDS? "It is a matter of mobilizing energy, anger and compassion around key questions of values and inequities", says Greig. "I think we're doing the best we can right now", offers Frautschi, "with one exception. We need to stop blocking the flow of information about HIV to young people." UNAIDS agrees with the latter point: "Unlike older people, young people don't have to change their behaviour, if they are empowered to adopt healthy, safe habits from the start. They are the key to stopping this epidemic."

As the preceding discussion illustrates, government inaction and individual denial in the face of HIV and AIDS are not straightforward issues and cannot be banished through simple solutions. One thought which we must keep in mind is that even if an effective HIV vaccine is discovered tomorrow, it will not be immediately or easily available to the vast majority of people at risk of infection. Nor will it remove the virus from those who have already contracted it. We need to learn to live in a world where HIV is part of the environment, but without abandoning our efforts to deal with the epidemic.

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POINT OF FACT: Of the 3.8 million children under 15 who have lived or are living with HIV, 2.7 million have already died.