With the recent breakthroughs in treatment and research in HIV, it continues to spread at a staggering national rate of over 40,000 new infections per year. Even more shocking is that South Carolina ranks 9th in the nation in new infectious discoveries. Although there is controversy over the pandemic’s causes, HIV is a multifaceted issue with moral, educational, religious, and behavioral factors. On Tuesday I visited ANMED’s HIV clinic with several social workers, doctors, counselors and patients which gave me a better understanding of the disease. One encouraging statistic is that in 2005 only one child was born with HIV.