1. The Economic Impact of HIV/AIDS in Developing Countries: An End to Systematic Under-estimation.
- Author
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Caraël, Michel, Glynn, Judith R., Moatti, Jean-Paul, and Ventelou, Bruno
- Abstract
Public health experts and economists share a common dissatisfaction towards previous economic analyses of the impacts of HIV/AIDS. A growing body of evidence now allows a better understanding of the full economic and societal dimensions of the epidemic. It is now certain that poverty contributes to HIV/AIDS epidemics and that AIDS contributes to poverty, although we still do not know enough about the complex pathways of this relationship. To illustrate this idea, an "endogenous" growth model- which takes into account the evolution of society's human capital-is used in order to re-assess the macroeconomic impact of HIV/AIDS. A fairly wide range of epidemic effects modify the economy's long-term growth regime, creating the risk of what we might call an epidemic or "regressive trap" of rapidly falling GDP. Government action should be designed in view of this risk, with health and educational interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2007
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