PIP: By October 1992, the government's Special Program to Control AIDS (PECOS) registered 717 cases of the disease in Peru; however, the number of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cases could number thousands. PECOS estimates that the number of cases of HIV is doubling every 2 years. One of the main reasons for the continued spread of HIV is the common perception that the pink plague, as AIDS is called here, affects only homosexuals. While 85% of sexually transmitted HIV and AIDS cases are among gay and bisexual men, in the past 4 years a large number of new cases has been registered among heterosexuals, especially women. In 1987, the ratio of AIDS cases among men and women was approximately 15 to 1. Today, the male to female ratio is 7 to 1. Most people working on AIDS say that the changing profile of the epidemic in Peru is caused by the high costs of prevention programs and the lack of information on the disease, which drastically raise the number of people in high risk groups. Peru's ongoing economic crisis has eaten into the budgets of nongovernment organization's (NGOs) AIDS prevention campaigns and has pushed treatment out of the reach of many people. In 1991, 3 television commercials developed by PECOS to promote the use of condoms were blocked by the Health Ministry. One of the groups that fought against campaigns promoting condom use was the Association of Catholic Doctors. The only way to organize an effective program is through a joint effort that brings together the government, NGOs, and other private and public institutions. Cooperation was demonstrated through the actions carried out for World AIDS Day, when more than 16 public, NGO, and government organizations were involved in a variety of AIDS information activities. In 1993, about 30 NGOs will begin actively working with Peru's Health Ministry to coordinate activities.^ieng