The best public health response to the threat posed to the community by HIV is the application of both traditional and modern public health approaches to disease, adopted to address the special concerns caused by HIV. The cornerstone on which this response must be built is the traditional public health role of monitoring the epidemic. Service to HIV-infected people is the second important area of HIV activity for public health. Comprehensive community care with an emphasis on quality and compassion should be an important priority, particularly at the local level. Community-based care for people with symptomatic HIV disease is also critical. In addition to providing excellent service, public health has an important role in advocacy. Public health at every level has the responsibility to provide well-designed, well-executed, and well-evaluated educational programs. There is one responsibility in the HIV epidemic which is unique to public health: the protection of the uninfected. 2 references.