[AIDS and intravenous drug abuse].

The importance of intravenous drug-abuse as a vehicle of HIV and AIDS is evidenced on the basis of recent epidemiological data gathered in the USA. The rate of seropositivity among intravenous drug-addicts (whose total number i is close to one million) is estimated at more than 20 percent. Besides direct contamination, risks of contamination of sexual partners and their offspring can be evaluated from these figures. The programme developed by the National Institute on Drug Abuse against AIDS, aimed at that particular target population, is presented in its various aspects, including basic research, treatment and prevention.