AIDS is spread by non-casual contact, primarily through body fluids like blood and semen. By way of comparison, just about ANY virus can be spread that way. By most accounts, HIV isn't even highly infectious like many other viral agents such as Ebola, West Nile, or even the common cold. For example, there has never been a documented case of someone getting AIDS from a mosquito bite. By way of comparison, over 50 people in Colorado died this year from West Nile Virus spread by mosquitos. You can't get AIDS from someone sneezing on you like you can the common cold or influenza.

From sources like "And the Band Played On", the homosexual community was especially hard hit back in the late 1970s/early 1980s because of several factors, such as:

1. Male homosexuals in places like San Francisco tended to be very promiscuous, with quite a few hooking up for anonomous sex at places like bathhouses. They didn't take any of the "safe sex" measures like wearing condoms. This can be shown by the statistics on sexually transmitted diseases among the homosexual community during that era.

2. It often takes several years from initial exposure before a person showed any symptoms. People didn't know they were sick, nor did they know they were infectious, so they kept having sex. Before the test for the presence of the HIV antibody was developed in 1984, there wasn't any good method for determining if someone was infected but not yet showing symptoms.

3. There is one other aspect that made AIDS different from probably any other disease in history - it became politically protected. With previous epidemics, measures were always taken to reduce the spread such as isolating the infected parties and tracing the epidemic to stop the infected parties from infecting others. This didn't happen with AIDS, at least outside of Cuba. Especially in the early 1980s, AIDS became a gay rights issue as much as a medical issue, and the protective measures were not implemented.

Looking beyond homosexuals, a lot of people were exposed via other means such as IV drug users sharing needles. In the days before HIV testing of blood products was in place, quite a few people were infected from blood transfusions. Among the worst hit were hemophiliacs getting infected by contaiminated blood clotting agents. AIDS was devastating to the hemophiliacs, especially in the 1980s.

In Africa, promiscuity (sp) is pretty common and "safe sex" is relatively rare, meaning that it is easy to spread through a population. From most reports, AIDS in Africa is mostly spread by heterosexual contact and poor medical practices like reusing needles.

AIDS has spread to be a global problem affecting every nation and race. It has killed millions of people, including untold thousands (probably hundreds of thousands) of Americans from all walks of life. To me, the three keys to slowing the spread of AIDS are:

1. Discourage promiscuity. Any two people who are HIV negative can have any type of sex they want and will never get AIDS. As they go on to multiple partners, they increase their chances of infection, and if they continue to be promiscuous, they risk spreading the infection like a chain reaction.

2. Implement strong medical measures to reduce infection. This isn't a problem in the US but it is in many poor parts of the world. I remember reading one recent report that claimed most of the spread of AIDS in Africa was due to poor medical practices.

3. Discouraging other means of infection like IV drug users who often share needles.

As for Bush, he has done more for AIDS victims, especially in Africa, than any president, ever. Clinton was good for lip service (no pun or Monica references intended), but that's about all. Bush has walked the walk.