Developing nations face many of the same barriers to the effective prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS as the developed nations. The article examines successful and unsuccessful approaches to prevention in the United States, and compares these to the obstacles faced by those attempting to deal with the HIV/AIDS pandemic in other nations. It suggests ways of addressing deeply rooted obstacles such as the treatment of women and racial and sexual minorities. A complex web of approaches that draws on international, national, and local laws and government, as well as the participation of community groups, stands the only chance of substantially addressing the myriad problems HIV/AIDS presents.

The article also addresses the assumption that treatment of most of the world's HIV-infected population is an impossibility, and draws on two existing studies to suggest that the barriers are not as insurmountable as is sometimes thought. Substantial global commitment to funding, however, is necessary for both prevention and treatment.