51. African State Policies on HIV/AIDS:A Comparison of Ghana and South Africa.
- Author
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Patterson, Amy S. and Haven, Bernard
- Subjects
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AIDS , *HIV infections , *ECONOMIC development , *DEMOCRACY , *POLITICAL doctrines , *GROSS national product - Abstract
The responses of African states to the HIV/AIDS epidemic have varied greatly. This paper will analyze the political reasons that South Africa and Ghana have addressed the HIV/AIDS epidemic in different ways. I will examine the cases of South Africa and Ghana because of their different political experiences, HIV infection rates, and levels of economic development. Politically, South Africa endured over forty years of apartheid and a recent democratic transition. After years of military rule, Ghana recently underwent a transition to democracy. In terms of the HIV/AIDS issue, South Africa has an HIV-positive rate of 20 percent among its 18-49 year old population, while Ghana’s infection rate is 3 percent . South Africa’s GNP per capita of $3,210 is ten times higher than that of Ghana ($390). Data for this paper come from government documents, news accounts, and interviews with policy-makers. This paper questions how several variables shape policies on HIV/AIDS in each country: civil society associations, dependence on donors for health revenue, democratization, political leadership, media coverage, public opinion, and the neopatrimonial nature of the African state. In doing so, the paper illustrates the complex relationship between political forces and aspects of the disease itself that make policy-making to address HIV/AIDS problematic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2004
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