The AIDS information crisis: confluence of the roles of information creator, seeker, and provider.

The dramatic increase in the number of cases and deaths from AIDS since 1981 has been accompanied by an information explosion on the topic. The government, health professionals, service organizations, consumers, and the media are each vital links in both formal and informal AIDS information networks. New information sources and systems have emerged from these five sectors, and their roles as information creators, seekers, and providers have come together. The need for integrative or synthesizing databases and systems which reflect the sectors' interdependence and acknowledge their roles in the information process is discussed. Databases and systems which reflect a multi-sector approach, such as the Computerized AIDS Information Network (CAIN), are suggested as potential solutions to the AIDS information problem.