A request for an intelligent and objective review of available information is one thing, misleading the vulnerable and uneducated another. For most people not medically trained, HIV treatment information is dauntingly complex and trying to evaluate it likely to cause some degree of uncertainty or anxiety. For instance, while current antiretroviral drugs can cause serious, adverse effects, some of which remain incompletely understood, a wealth of data exists to prove that the use of the same drugs has achieved a significant reduction in the rates of opportunistic illnesses and deaths from HIV. Similarly, it may be difficult to reconcile consistent admonitions to adhere completely, i.e., to take all doses faithfully, as prescribed, with new reports on the possibility of "strategic treatment interruptions," in which people quit taking their antiretroviral medications for specific lengths of time. Further complicating the situation are the entrenched problems of institutional mistrust and the exorbitant prices of anti-HIV medications.

For all of the above reasons, it's not hard to see why many people are confused about their treatment options and even more fundamental questions about the origin and pathogenesis of AIDS. Our mission with BETA is to provide a resource that helps people with HIV and their caretakers to sift through the overwhelming amount of complex information that issues almost daily from various news outlets. We believe that the best approach to treatment decision-making involves a willingness to evaluate all available data, rather than selectively suppressing information, and to ask questions as well as develop skills that allow one to distinguish between valid and invalid soures and data. And herein lie the goals of BETA; to provide balanced, comprehensive coverage of the issues and factual information with which readers can make independent, well-informed, vital decisions. (See the "BETA Reader Survey Summary".)

To these ends, this issue of BETA presents feature stories on several major challenges in HIV treatment including residual HIV replication, structured treatment interruption, and access and adherence. This issue also features news from the 7th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), held January 30-February 2 in San Francisco. Also in this issue are an overview of side effects associated with anti-HIV therapy and how to manage them, and a look at the new class of entry inhibitor drugs. Finally, we share results from a reader survey conducted late last year, and announce some new and exciting news about BETA itself.