Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has become an increasing problem throughout the nation. Experts predict that there will have been 270,000 cases, including 179,000 deaths, by 1991. The disease has devastating psychosocial as well as physical effects. Neither preventive medicine nor a cure is anywhere in sight. Everyone needs to be educated about AIDS to be able to separate fact from myth and rumor. Massive education campaigns in gay communities correlate with significant drops in the rate of homosexual infection. Conversely, intravenous drug users have not been educated and are still considered the prime carriers of AIDS into the hetereosexual world. Laws are needed to prevent discrimination against people with AIDS. As the costs of treating AIDS increase, much of the money will have to come from the government. Less money will then be available for education and social services. While AIDS alters the life of the patient, the caregiver's life also changes. Much is being done to develop vaccines, develop prophylactic and therapeutic drugs, modify the environment, and modify behavior for the prevention of AIDS. AIDS continues to have an enormous impact on educational practices, health care, business, and social institutions. (YLB)