Understanding the politics of HIV/AIDS responses could lead to
more effective HIV and AIDS interventions.
As the AIDS epidemic continues to outstrip global efforts to
contain it, new thinking and new approaches may be needed. The
application of political science and a focus on the political and
institutional dimensions of AIDS responses have the potential to
yield important insights into identifying key drivers of change in
the response, how political commitment emerges and is sustained,
and how it is converted into action. Ultimately, this could lead to
more effective HIV and AIDS interventions.
The issue
A
Technical Approach paper explains why politics
is important in HIV/AIDS, and examines the various dimensions of
the politics of AIDS:
- how political and social history affects a country's response
to HIV/AIDS;
- how a country’s political system, the social roots of that
system and its sources of power can influence the nature and
intensity of the national response;
- the political ideology and discourse around HIV/AIDS and their
effect on a government's HIV/AIDS response;
- the political incentives for tackling HIV/AIDS and their
relationship with effective leadership for HIV/AIDS;
- the influence of historical/structural or ideological basis of
relationships over time between key institutions and sectors;
- the basis and nature of relationships between the state, donor
and non governmental sector.
The paper represents work in progress, and feedback is welcome.
Please email the
author with your views and comments.
Learning day
HLSP hosted a learning day on The Politics of HIV/AIDS in March
2006. Participants included HLSP staff, DFID advisers,
representatives from organisations including the International
HIV/AIDS Alliance, Student Partnerships Worldwide, the Network on
Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Futures Group, the NHS,
and others.
Download our
report from the learning day or the individual
presentations:
Further reading
To find out more, you can read a
synthesis of the literature that uses
political science as the primary framework of analysis for
explaining why countries – their states and societies – have
responded successfully or have failed to respond to the
epidemic.
