Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- List of figures
- List of tables
- 1 Introduction
- 2 AIDS policy in South Africa
- 3 Mother-to-child transmission prevention in South Africa
- 4 Expanding an AIDS intervention to include HAART for all who need it
- 5 AIDS, HAART and behaviour change
- 6 AIDS, economic growth and inequality in South Africa
- 7 Conclusion
- Notes
- References
- Index
1 - Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 July 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- List of figures
- List of tables
- 1 Introduction
- 2 AIDS policy in South Africa
- 3 Mother-to-child transmission prevention in South Africa
- 4 Expanding an AIDS intervention to include HAART for all who need it
- 5 AIDS, HAART and behaviour change
- 6 AIDS, economic growth and inequality in South Africa
- 7 Conclusion
- Notes
- References
- Index
Summary
The aids pandemic in Southern Africa is not only a major public health crisis but also a threat to economic development and social solidarity. South Africa, which is home to more hiv-positive people than any other country in the world, is a particularly interesting case in point. More than one in five adult South Africans are hiv-positive and aids deaths are expected to rise sharply until 2010. Over a million children could be orphaned by 2015 as a result. Such health shocks are devastating, not only for families and communities but also for the broader society and economy.
In August 2003, after many years of resistance and prevarication, the South African government finally bowed to public pressure and announced its support in principle for public-sector provision of highly active antiretroviral therapy (haart). If offered rapidly and on a large enough scale, this has the potential to ameliorate the impact of aids substantially. However, the treatment ‘roll-out’ will take time, and given the government's ongoing concerns about ‘affordability’, it is unlikely to reach many (if not most) of those who need it.
The burden of aids will thus continue to be borne unevenly in South Africa. This is largely because of South Africa's high unemployment rate and the strong connection between unemployment, poverty and hiv-infection. Whereas the bulk of people living with aids cannot afford haart, a small, but growing, number can access it through their companies or medical schemes.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Moral Economy of AIDS in South Africa , pp. 13 - 40Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2003