Neal Nathanson | Jan 3, 1999 | 6 min read
By any criteria, AIDS must be considered the great plague of the 20th century. The epidemic's spread around the globe has been rapid. The disease has already caused more than 11.7 million deaths worldwide since its appearance in the late 1970s. With an estimated 30.6 million current infections, and new infections occurring at the rate of more than 250,000 monthly, the potential magnitude of the HIV/AIDS pandemic is truly profound. In response, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has develo