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Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a pandemic disease with no known cure and limited effective strategies for prevention and control. It is one of the most devastating illnesses in contemporary society, and since 1982, certain populations, including intravenous drug users (IVDU), have been targeted as being at high risk for AIDS. Education is one strategy that seeks to address AIDS and the needs of IVDU. This retrospective study focused on the use of the interactive seminar or small-group discussion as an educational method to identify and describe its effect on the rate of voluntary human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing among male subjects in a drug dependence treatment unit (DDTU). The subjects, 25 to 62 years old, were in treatment at a Medical Center for Veterans that was located in an urban environment. The medical records of 118 patients admitted to the unit during the year before and the year after the introduction of an HIV interactive seminar were studied. Analysis of data showed that drug users who participated in the interactive seminar had a higher rate of voluntary HIV testing than did those who did not participate; IVDU who participated in the interactive seminar had a higher rate of voluntary HIV testing than IVDU who did not participate in the seminar; drug users who completed the detoxification treatment and participated in the interactive seminar had a higher rate of voluntary HIV testing than did those who did not participate in the interactive seminar.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)