Since AIDS was recognized the disease has touched all aspects of society, including families, schools, communities, business, courts, the military, and all levels of government. It has also had a significant effect on the way science, medicine, and public health are practiced. The AIDS epidemic is marked by sharp variations in geographic, racial, and gender composition. The geographic distribution of AIDS is uneven, minorities are disproportionately represented, and intravenous drug use plays an increasing role in transmission. The principal means by which the spread of HIV infection can be minimized, such as education and altered behavior patterns, are clear yet elusive. Behavior related to sex and drugs is biologically based, socially conditioned, and resistant to change. Containing the spread of AIDS requires particular attention to minority communities. The advent of AIDS has indelibly marked the practice of medicine; health care workers have legitimate concerns about occupational exposure to HIV infection, although the risk is low. A disease such as AIDS drains the economy in many ways, such as medical, scientific, and social expenditures. Medical care for those suffering from AIDS is extremely expensive. Estimates of the average lifetime medical costs per patient range from $30,000 to $140,000. Of further significance is the projection that between 10,000 and 20,000 children will have symptomatic HIV infection by 1991, most of them infected at birth by their mothers. Public health and social objectives in dealing with AIDS are discussed. 5 figures.