HIV/AIDS has been a global epidemic for more than 30 years. People born after 1980 have never known a world without it. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that more than 1 million people are infected with HIV.1 HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is the virus that causes AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome). AIDS is a disease of the immune system that can be treated, but not cured. Most people say “HIV/AIDS” when talking about either the virus (HIV) or the syndrome it causes (AIDS).