On this first day of the XIV International AIDS Conference delegates heard more sobering evidence of the continued march of the epidemic. United Nations officials said AIDS had killed 20 million people since the epidemic began and another 68 million were likely to die by the year 2020.

While much of the world's attention has been focused on Sub-Saharan Africa, where 70% of the 40 million people infected with HIV live, UN officials predict the next AIDS hot spots to be in China, India, and the countries of the former Soviet Union.

In the US, while the HIV infection rate has remained relatively stable for the last four years, there are a number of troubling turns. The number of cases among heterosexuals is rising, and almost half of those diagnoses are among African Americans.

But there is good news as well. Prevention programs in Uganda and Thailand have reduced the HIV prevalence rates in those countries. A number of new drugs to treat HIV are in advanced stages of development. And the search for a vaccine to treat or prevent HIV infection is well under way.