Much has happened since the first appearance of AIDS in 1981: it has been identified, studied, and occasionally denied. The virus has shifted host populations and spread globally. Medicine, the social sciences, and world governments have joined forces to combat and prevent the disease. And South Africa has emerged as ground zero for the pandemic. The editors of HIV/AIDS in South Africa 25 Years On present the South African crisis as a template for addressing the myriad issues surrounding the epidemic worldwide, as the book brings together a widely scattered body of literature, analyzes psychosocial and sexual aspects contributing to HIV transmission and prevention, and delves into complex intersections of race, gender, class, and politics. Including largely overlooked populations and issues (e.g., prisoners, persons with disabilities, stigma), as well as challenges shaping future research and policy, the contributors approach their topics with rare depth, meticulous research, carefully drawn conclusions, and profound compassion. Among the topics covered: The relationship between HIV and poverty, starting from the question, "Which is the determinant and which is the consequence?" Epidemiology of HIV among women and men: concepts of femininity and masculinity, and gender inequities as they affect HIV risk; gender-specific prevention and intervention strategies. The impact of AIDS on infants and young children: risk and protective factors; care of children by HIV-positive mothers; HIV-infected children. Current prevention and treatment projects, including local-level responses, community-based work, and VCT (voluntary counseling and testing) programs. New directions: promoting circumcision, vaccine trials, "positive prevention." South Africa’s history of AIDS denialism. The urgent lessons in this book apply both globally and locally, making HIV/AIDS in South Africa 25 Years On uniquely instructive and useful for professionals working in HIV/AIDS and global public health.

This second edition of the book provides up-to-date information on new drugs, new proven HIV prevention interventions, a new chapter on positive prevention, and current HIV epidemiology. This definitive text covers all aspects of HIV/AIDS in South Africa, from basic science to medicine, sociology, economics and politics. It has been written by a highly respected team of South African HIV/AIDS experts and provides a thoroughly researched account of the epidemic in the region.

For three decades post-apartheid, the HIV/AIDS epidemic from first acknowledgement to its management as a chronic disease, demanded unparalleled attention. This was nowhere more evident than in South Africa. This book explores how the state responded to its responsibilities to defend and protect (human) security. Linking this to the role of the state as sovereign protector and provider of security, it applies the findings to the broader re-interpretation of sovereign responsibility in the 21st Century. This book does not seek to absolve the South African state of its responsibility to respond. Moreover, it argues that although the state, the government, before, during, and after the transition to democracy, was aware of and acknowledged the threat - political, economic and social - posed by the epidemic, it nonetheless chose not to make the epidemic a priority policy issue. As a result, it argues that the South African HIV/AIDS case illustrates the tension inherent between a state’s ultimate sovereign responsibility to respond and its tactical dependence on external contributors to meet the demands of all of its constituents.

This volume analyzes the cost of HIV/AIDS from a fiscal perspective in Botswana, South Africa, Uganda, and Swaziland.

This book analyzes successive governments' management of the AIDS epidemic in South Africa. The book covers the years 1982-2005, using expert thinking regarding public policy making to identify gaps in the public sector's handling of the epidemic. It highlights critical lessons for policy makers and other public health managers.

Based upon national reviews of current policies, strategic plans, and actual programs, as well as key informant interviews conducted with staff of governmental departments, this study is a detailed analysis of in-country drug policies in relation to the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. One of the first scientific reviews of disease policy, legislation, and financing, this comprehensive research study not only reviews HIV/AIDS policy but also provides recommendations for strengthening programs that deal with this disease.

The National Household HIV Prevalence and Risk Survey of South African Children forms part of the Nelson Mandela/HSRC Study of HIV/AIDS: South African National HIV Prevalence, Behavioural Risks and Mass Media Household Survey 2002. This report provides information on HIV prevalence, orphanhood, risk factors for HIV infection and knowledge of HIV/AIDS among South African children. A total of 3 988 children aged 2 to 18 years participated in the survey. Caregivers of 2 138 children 2 to 11 years of of age answered a questionnaire on the child's behalf. A total of 740 children 12 to 14 years of age directly answered a separate questionnaire. An additional 1 110 children and between 15 and 18 years of age answered a youth questionnaire. Of the 3 988 children, 3 294 (82.6 per cent) provided a saliva specimen for HIV testing. The results show HIV prevalence among children 2 to 18 years of age to be 5.4 per cent. Prevalence was nearly constant across age groups and did not vary significantly. There were insufficient numbers to compare prevalence across race groups. The prevalence was higher than expected. Further studies are necessary to verify this finding.

Although adopting global norms often improves domestic systems of governance, domestic obstacles to norm diffusion are frequent. States that decide to reinvent their political authority simultaneously evaluate which current global norms are desirable and to what extent. In this study, Vlad Kravtsov argues that recent debates about the nature of authority in Putin’s Russia and Mbeki’s South Africa have resulted in a set of unique ideas on the cardinal goals of the state. This is the first book to explore how these consensual ideas have shaped health governance and impinged on norm diffusion processes. Detailed comparisons of HIV/AIDS governance systems in Russia and South Africa illustrate the argument. The Kremlin’s dislike of international recommendations stemmed from the rapidly maturing statism and great power syndrome. Pretoria’s responses to global AIDS norms were consistent with the ideas of the African Renaissance, which highlighted indigenousness, market-based empowerment, and moral leadership in global affairs. This book explains how and why the governments under investigation framed the nature of the epidemic, provided evidence-based prevention services, increased universal access to proven lifesaving medicines, and interacted with other participants in social practice.

The aim of this book is to better understand the phenomenon of HIV in a country that has faced the fullest might of the disease and yet, after first faltering, has made more progress than any other country in the world in its response to HIV. It aims to reflect the complexity of this narrative and the range of widely differing insights by featuring what is likely the largest number of contributors in a single publication on the subject in South Africa, as well as a full spectrum of specialised areas, ranging from high-end science to personal reflections.