It stands to reason that if something affects you, you're more likely to take an interest in understanding it. Treatment literacy - the process of understanding how a disease affects you and what medication works best - is still relatively undeveloped in South Africa. In the United States, however, AIDS activists have not been content to leave the research into AIDS drugs in the hallo wed halls of scientific institutions. The Treatment Action Group based in New York has made substantial progress in ensuring that safe and effective medicines reach the people living with HIV/AIDS as fast as possible.