Learning from HIV and AIDS is proving every bit as problematic as Coleridge characterised history as a teacher. HIV of course poses its own particular challenges. National responses have had to address a disease that is primarily spread by unprotected sex, around which open discussion is often clouded by prejudice, denial, ignorance and misconception. These have all facilitated the spread of HIV/AIDS, and impeded the pace of national political responses. Approaches to HIV/AIDS which seek to promote learning relevant to policy responses for prevention, care and impact, are therefore urgently required at national, regional and global levels. This volume is a valuable contribution to that agenda.

As the new millennium unfolds, the HIV/AIDS pandemic continues to spread apace in many parts of the world. These are generally the places that can least afford the increased burdens of suffering and deprivation the disease brings about, and those that typically lack the capacities required to mount an effective prevention and care response. The poverty-reduction development prospects of much of Eastern and Southern Africa are seriously challenged by a high prevalence of HIV in the general population – threatening hard won gains in: human development; life expectancy; and education. Meanwhile, HIV continues to spread in West Africa.