The HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa in a historical perspective

Can understanding its history help the response to the HIV epidemic in Africa?

By: Denis, P.; Becker, C.
Published by: Reseau Senegal: Droit, Ethique et Sante (Law, Ethics and Health) , 2006
Via: Eldis

This online book from the Senegalese Network: Law, Ethics, Health, examines the historical development of the HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. It brings together work by historians, anthropologists and social scientists, along with contributions by medical experts and activists in the field of HIV. The articles include overviews, case studies and oral histories which examine various aspects of the epidemic at a local, national and regional level.

The book addresses the historical origins of the HIV epidemic and examines how the scientific search for these origins has often been influenced by racist assumptions about African culture. It argues that the epidemic is less recent that has been assumed, but it has been unrecognised. Some of the contributors compare the HIV epidemic in Africa to other epidemics in history to show that it is without historical precedent in terms of the numbers who have been, and are projected to be, affected. The book also examines how the history of colonial rule, and of apartheid in South Africa, created the social, cultural and economic conditions which facilitated the epidemic reaching these proportions. The authors argue that HIV and AIDS needs to be seen in a multidimensional, rather than a purely medical, perspective and that the epidemiological history has to be combined with social and cultural history.