Introduction

At this symposium, sponsored by Bristol Myers Squibb, several of the critical issues that remain controversial in optimizing the use of antivirals were discussed. This satellite was one of several sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry, each highlighting points that were a broad overview of key issues, with a focus how what was relevant to their particular agents. All of these preceded the 7th European Conference on Clinical Aspects and Treatment of HIV infection, at which both new data and recently presented data from the US ICAAC conference were highlighted. There were several sessions devoted to debates of the controversies in the field as well, including discussions about the optimal time to initiate treatment, and which agents are best to select when treating. Since each session came to differing conclusions about all of these key issues, it is clear that this field remains one that is still struggling with competing ways to balance the many different issues that often lead us to very different approaches.