Prevention in practice: obstacles and opportunities.

General Practitioners are excellently placed within the community to provide health education and advice in relation to HIV infection and AIDS. This paper will report on some of the findings from the first national study of HIV infection and general practice in England and Wales. The findings cast light on the preparedness of practitioners to undertake health education on HIV infection. Findings that relate to the extent of contact that practitioners have with people with HIV infection, people with AIDS and people with worries about HIV infection or AIDS will be discussed in the light of opportunities that are created for HIV-related health education and prevention. Findings that relate to practitioners' opinions about providing health education and counselling, about working with people who are gay, bisexual and injecting drugs, and about confidentiality and consent, will be discussed in the light of obstacles that exist to the effective provision of HIV-related health education and prevention. The paper will conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for primary health care responses to HIV infection in Britain.