In order to facilitate the detection of integrated HIV-1 proviral DNA from African as well as European patients, four new primer pairs for use in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), localised in the gag,pol, vifandenvgenes of HIV-1, were constructed. The primer pairs were compared to all accessible HIV-1 sequences from African and European isolates and to some of the earlier published and most commonly used primer pairs. HIV-1 DNA was detected in blood drawn from 13 out of 13 individuals infected in Africa, in three out of three Tanzanian HIV-1 isolates and in three out of three asymptomatic Swedes infected in Europe. The new selection of primer pairs can be used as an alternative to enhance the detection of HIV-1 of different origins.