People in the United States need to "get [the] message out loud and clear" that AIDS is "still a terrible threat right here in the United States," a Winston-Salem Journal editorial says. The United States has made "just enough progress ... to be at a dangerous crossroads [and] ... after several years of progress, this country may be on the brink of a new upsurge in AIDS," the editorial says. The passage of time from the "terrible days" of the height of the epidemic in the United States and the focus of news reports on antiretroviral drugs and other AIDS treatments has "nurture[d] a growing complacency" about the disease, according to the Journal. In addition, news reports have shifted to focus on the toll of the disease abroad, causing some to "wrongly assume that AIDS is not an American problem anymore," the editorial says. However, the disease is still "deadly and easily spread," the editorial says, concluding that "[p]ublic health officials, schools, parents -- everyone who works with young people -- should spread the word that AIDS is a killer and that safe sex is a necessity, not just a slogan" (Winston Salem-Journal, 8/7).

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