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Economic Implications of HIV/AIDS: A Crisis in Development HIV/AIDS has changed from a 'health issue to a development crisis' argues the Secretary-General of UNAIDS (the joint United Nations program on HIV/AIDS) (UNAIDS 1999). The ability of sub-Saharan African states to increase economic activity and social well-being is threatened. Economic development requires a strong working-age population for agriculture, education, industrial work and other sectors of economic activity. The scale of HIV/AIDS infection in sub-Saharan Africa has economic implications at the levels of households, national budgets, and businesses. The figure above (Bonnel 2000:3) provides one estimate of the implications for economic growth in the Third World.
Retrieved from: UNAIDS 2000 Household-Level Implications At the household level the effects of HIV infection are obvious: the cost of medical care and related areas will increase while the ability for a family to earn income or undertake productive and domestic work is decreased: if the infected person is an adult, then the production and income of the household will be reduced. The figure below (Kwaramba 1997) shows the reduction in agricultural production experienced by households in Zimbabwe resulting from the loss of one adult to AIDS.
Retrieved from: UNAIDS 2000 The loss of adults in the family has dramatic implications for family well-being. In addition, the growing prevalence of women infected by HIV/AIDS has repercussions for future generations. Women in sub-Saharan Africa frequently are responsible for large portions of household-level subsistence farming and care-taking. When a rural women falls ill from HIV, all of the duties that she usually handles may fall upon the younger female children of the family. This often means that girls will not be able to attend school. Childcare, nutrition, tending the sick, and education all suffer when AIDS cuts down an adult in the family. There are also issues affecting children, such as mother-to-child transmission(MTCT), infection of young adults and orphans. A disease-stricken population of infants and youth casts a gloomy shadow over future economic and social development of a nation. Affects Upon the Private-Sector In addition to the reduction of household food production in these largely agrarian societies, the private sector's ability to compete with large numbers of sick workers has been drastically reduced. The epidemic may affect national economies through the illness and death of producers and the diversion of resources from private and state budgets (and eventually, investment) to care. According to Simon and Rosen (2003) costs to the business sector include: * Absenteeism
Source: Rosen and Simon 2002 Affects at National Level HIV/AIDS differs from other infectious diseases because it does more than prey upon the elderly and very young. Instead, it is most threatening to the working-age population, ages 18-45. The wiping-out of the working age population means that there are neither people to work in the fields nor the burgeoning industries in these countries. this health crisis in the working-age population has resulted in a weakening of state institutions such as those of governance, the civil service, the armed forces, and other state sectors. In nations where debt crises have induced stringency measures to be implemented as the behest of Structural Adjustment Policies, many sub-Saharan African countries have to cut health care spending while HIV/AIDS is demanding an ever-increasing proportion of national health budgets.
Retrieved from: UNAIDS 2000
This loss of life due to HIV/AIDS, in addition to drastically reducing working-age population and shattering the health of young people and their hope of leading full adult lives, hints at the alarming concerns for the economic well-being of families and raises issues regarding the potential development of states. The WHO writes, 'Sustainable development is feasible if countries can tame the infectious diseases that disempower people. If these diseases continue unchecked, they damage the social fabric; diminish agricultural and industrial production; undermine political, social and economic stability; and contribute to regional and global insecurity' (WHO 2001). For further information on HIV and Economic implications click on the links below. Bonnel, R. 2000, 'Economic Analysis of HIV/AIDS.' World Bank, p.3. Kwaramba, P, 1997. UNAIDS. Retrieved June 24, 2003. Rosen, Sydney and Jonathon Simon. 2002, 'Shifting the Burden of HIV/AIDS.' Center for International Health, Boston University. July. Retrieved June 24, 2003. Rosen, Sydney and Jonathon Simon. 2003, 'Shifting the Burden of HIV/AIDS.' Retrieved June 26, 2003. UNAIDS. 2000.'Socio-Economic Impact of HIV/AIDS in Africa.' Retrieved July 20, 2003. UNAIDS. 1999, 'Meeting on the International Partnership Against HIV/AIDS in Africa.' December. Retrieved June 25, 2003. WHO. 2001, 'HIV, TB, and Malaria-Three Major Infectious Disease Threats.' July. Retrieved June 26, 2003.
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