Should HIV be on the development agenda?

Abstract

According to estimates, there are 33.6 million people living with HIV and a further 16.3 million have died since the early 1980s. In addition, around 16,000 people are being infected each day, 90% of them in sub-Saharan Africa and in the developing countries of Asia. It is noted that HIV is a challenging problem to solve, with the virus deduced as elusive and evasive from a technical and virological point of view. Social and economic factors are indicated as determinants of HIV, as well as associated with the spread of the virus. Hence, effective national programs against HIV often require dramatic cultural shifts and confronting longstanding taboos. To this effect, there is a need for the i..