Since late 1985, the Institut Pasteur de Madagascar has studied the problem of the distribution of HIV in the island. With the approval and cooperation of the Malagasy Ministry of Health, a number of different surveys have been undertaken, particularly of those sections of the population diagnosed as being of "high-risk". In 1987, a Malagasy prostitute from the country's second largest port was identified as seropositive. One case of clinical AIDS was diagnosed in 1988 in a Franco-Malagasy subject living in NOSY BE. Systematic tests for seropositivity among women with multiple partners in nine "high-risk" areas of the country are applied. The aim of this survey during 1988 is to make such groups aware of the vital necessity of overcoming the problem by preventing its growth by taking appropriate measures. The IPM has obtained government approval and has established the facilities to confirm findings of seropositivity among the population of Madagascar.