(ii) Impact on Development
Successful public health measures have stabilized the epidemic
in most developed countries, but this is true of only some developing countries.
Many developing countries are experiencing exponential growth of HIV/AIDS cases.
Global spending on HIV/AIDS care, research and prevention reflects this
disparity - developing countries only receive about 12% of such resources
despite having 95% of cases. Socioeconomic factors contributing to the spread of
HIV/AIDS which disproportionately impact on developing countries include:
poverty; illiteracy; gender inequality; increased mobility of populations within
and between countries; and rapid industrialization involving the movement of
workers from villages to cities, and consequent breakdown of traditional
values.2
Because HIV/AIDS is concentrated in prime-age adults who are
usually at the peak of their economic productivity and are often heads of
families, it has an immense impact on life expectancy, exacerbates inequality
(e.g. surviving orphans), and increases the burden on health systems.
Governance, development and human rights are increasingly being recognized as
interdependent,3 as HIV/AIDS undermines recent development
achievements. In a few years of accelerated spread, AIDS has become the leading
cause of adult death is some developing countries, and may be the most important
macro-economic and social determinant of human welfare and poverty.4
The risk of develop-ment projects worsening the epidemic in areas of high
prevalence can be averted by effective government responses. An example is the
Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline sup-ported by the World Bank that has incorporated
HIV/AIDS prevention
interventions5.
