The public should be educated about HIV infection and condom use and safer sex techniques should be encouraged, esp. among teenagers and young adults. The benefits of limiting the number of sexual partners should be stressed. Pregnant women at risk should obtain testing because use of zidovudine during pregnancy reduces the incidence of HIV infection in infants. Maternal-infant transmission of HIV may be reduced if zidovudine is given to the mother before and during delivery and to the infant for 6 weeks after delivery. The development of effective treatments for AIDS has been relatively slow in contrast to the rapid increase in knowledge about its pathophysiology over the last 10 years.
Combination therapy is more effective than use of a single drug.
The strict safety criteria established by the FDA for new drugs have been the subject of controversy. AIDS activist groups and others have argued that experimental drugs should be made available to volunteers more quickly. Evidence supporting the benefits of nonpharmacological therapies remains inconclusive. No drug has been discovered that prevents or cures HIV infection. Life expectancy remains about 10 to 15 years after initial infection.