In New Caledonia, the number of HIV/AIDS cases diagnosed since 1986 stood at 260 as of August 2003, out of an estimated population of 215,000, comprising 44% Kanaks, 34% Europeans, 12% Polynesians (primarily Wallisians and Futunians), 5% Vietnamese and Indonesians, and 5% people outside these groups. The Kanaks reside mainly in the rural provinces of the Islands and the North, while the other communities are primarily in the South, where Nouméa is located. Although the prevalence of infection appears low, the relative proportion of heterosexual transmissions and that among women has continued to rise. At the end of 2001, the sex ratio of the active patient population (97 patients) was 2 men to 1 woman. The study on the health, living conditions, and safety of Caledonian women, whose primary objective is to measure violence against women, is also the first survey of the general female population to provide information on HIV prevention behaviors. (R.A.)