Though modern medicine has done much to control the disease since it first caught the attention of public health officials, the battle against HIV is far from over.
When 31-year old Dean Carras hits the bars, and maybe strikes up a new relationship, he has a level of confidence that wouldn't have been possible just a few years ago. That's because Carras, who is HIV negative, begins his day with PrEP (short for Pre-exposure Prophylaxis), which reduces the risk of sexual transmission of HIV -- the virus that can lead to AIDS -- by more than 90 percent.
"I don't want to sound cynical, but I don't have to trust somebody 100 percent, because I know for myself that I am protected," Carras said. "I come from a generation where condom use was 100 percent; that was safe sex. If you said safe sex, that meant you used a condom."
