AIDS IS NOW A GLOBAL PANDEMIC Millions of people around the world are affected by the human immunodeficiency virus. The origin of HIV still has no theory supported by clear evidence. No one knows how many people contracted AIDS in the early 1970s, and it is not known for sure where the HIV AIDS virus came from, but today it is generally accepted that the origin of AIDS can be traced to Africa . Mann JM (1992, p. 11) reported that “The widespread worldwide spread of HIV began in the mid-to-late 1970s. In less than two decades – during the first of which was unknown and unsuspected – HIV became the first modern pandemic.” To understand the meaning of AIDS it is necessary to check some definitions from different sources. Harrison TR (2012, p. 1506) states that “Any individual infected with HVI with a CD4+ T cell count of ˂200/μL has AIDS by definition, regardless of the presence of symptoms or opportunistic disease.” The acronym AIDS stands for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. It occurs when the immune system is severely damaged over many years by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS. It is important to remember that an “HIV positive” person does not necessarily have AIDS (Healey J. 2003). HIV/AIDS infection has become a major problem for society and government due to the fact that it is a global pandemic with a long history since it was discovered and that it affects many people regardless of race, age and sex. The following essay will describe the most important events in the history of AIDS, the most significant socioeconomic factors increasing the spread of AIDS in developing countries, and current initiatives to help control the spread of HIV globally. There are essential events that o. ..... half article ......2013) stated that initially the evolution of prevention strategies is based on behavior change: abstinence, fidelity to a single partner and use of condoms. Next, access to sterile injecting equipment and substitution therapy by people who inject drugs to reduce HIV transmission among each other. Finally, the last objective is biomedical advances in prevention involving the effectiveness (50% to 60%) of male circumcision in reducing susceptibility to HIV infection, the use of antiretroviral therapy before sexual intercourse with greater effectiveness in reducing HIV acquisition; treatment such as prevention of mother-to-child transmission and prevention of sexual transmission between HIV-discordant couples. Furthermore, combined prevention requires condom use, antiretroviral-based prevention, and prevention of behaviors associated with increased risk of infection.