Publication: AIDS at 35: A Midlife Crisis
Loading...
Files in English
124 downloads
Published
2016-12-14
ISSN
1608-5906
Date
2017-01-11
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
This year marks the 35th since AIDS was first identified and the epidemic faces a ‘mid-life’ crisis. It seems to us it is time to take stock of both the successes we have meet and the challenges we face. In this editorial for the final issue of AJAR in 2016 we do this. We warned of the potential devastation AIDS would wreak across Africa, but this went unheard. We watched with dismay as colleagues and friends sickened and died, and the political leaders initially ignored what was to come. In this editorial we look at the best of times – where things went well; and the worst of times – where the challenges lie.
Link to Data Set
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Citations
- Cited 4 times in Scopus (view citations)
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Sudan's HIV Response : Value for Money in a Low-Level HIV Epidemic(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-09-01)This report summarizes the findings of an allocative efficiency analysis on Sudan s national HIV epidemic and response conducted in 2014. HIV allocative efficiency studies are generally trying to answer the question How can HIV funding be optimally allocated to the combination of HIV response interventions that will yield the highest impact . In the first half of 2014, the Sudan National AIDS Programme has reviewed its national strategic plan (NSP) on HIV and AIDS, while at the same time preparing a concept note for submission to the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the single largest funding partner of the national HIV response. In this context the government of Sudan approached the World Bank with a request to conduct an allocative efficiency analysis to inform both the prioritization of the national HIV response and the concept note development.Publication Health and AIDS in 2019 and Beyond(Taylor and Francis, 2018-12-18)Editorials provide an opportunity for the authors to get ideas out and things off their chests. Between us we have a sobering 70 years of experience working on health, initially in Southern Africa. We watched with horror as the HIV epidemic progressed inexorably in the 1980s through Zimbabwe (where David was based) to South Africa in the 1990s (where Alan worked at the University of Natal). HIV was a new disease but swept through the region with unbelievable speed and ferocity. A survey in Northern KwaZulu-Natal in 1986/87 found no HIV, by 2018 prevalence among pregnant women was over 50 percent.Publication HIV/AIDS in MENA : Assessment and Policy Recommendations(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010-11)The HIV pandemic in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region continues as one of the most devastating health crises ever. The recent regional HIV/AIDS epidemiological synthesis report entitled characterizing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Middle East and North Africa: Time for strategic action, provides the scientific basis for the policy recommendations detailed here and provides policy makers with an overview of the specific character of the HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immune deficiency syndrome) epidemic in the MENA region. The report also sets out policy and programming recommendations that respond to the epidemiological and demographic contours of the HIV epidemic in the region, and the conclusions drawn from it can potentially be used as the basis for further research and policy development at the national level. Policy is variously discussed in this report both as a conceptual approach to HIV/AIDS prevention programming and as the concrete form of the programming itself. It offers examples of best practice, makes recommendations on where to target resources and funding, and outlines the most effective strategies in HIV/AIDS prevention. All the information presented in this policy report is based on the comprehensive research, findings, and recommendations recorded in the synthesis report.Publication Characterizing the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the Middle East and North Africa : Time for Strategic Action(World Bank, 2010)Despite a fair amount of progress on understanding human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemiology globally, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is the only region where knowledge of the epidemic continues to be very limited, and subject to much controversy. It has been more than 25 years since the discovery of HIV, but no scientific study has provided a comprehensive data-driven synthesis of HIV/AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) infectious spread in this region. The current report provides the first comprehensive scientific assessment and data-driven epidemiological synthesis of HIV spread in MENA since the beginning of the epidemic. It is based on a literature review and analysis of thousands of widely unrecognized publications, reports, and data sources extracted from scientific literature or collected from sources at the local, national, and regional levels. The recommendations provided here focus on key strategies related to the scope of this report and its emphasis on understanding HIV epidemiology in MENA as a whole. The recommendations are based on identifying the status of the HIV epidemic in MENA, through this synthesis, as a low HIV prevalence setting with rising concentrated epidemics among priority populations. General directions for prevention interventions as warranted by the outcome of this synthesis are also discussed briefly, but are not delineated because they are beyond the scope of this report. This report was not intended to provide intervention recommendations for each MENA country.Publication Investing in Communities Achieves Results : Findings from an Evaluation of Community Responses to HIV and AIDS(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2013-01)The overview summarizes the evaluation of community responses (15 studies, including 11 evaluations carried out in 8 countries). It presents the evaluation questions, the methodology, the key results achieved by community responses along the continuum of prevention, treatment, care and support, and the resulting policy and programmatic implications. Before the scale-up of the international response to the AIDS pandemic, community responses in developing countries played a crucial role in providing services and care for those affected. This study is the first comprehensive, mixed-method evaluation of the impact of that response. The evaluation finds that community response can be effective at increasing knowledge of HIV, promoting social empowerment, increasing access to and use of HIV services, and even decreasing HIV incidence, all through the effective mobilization of limited resources. By effectively engaging with this powerful community structure, future HIV and AIDS programs can ensure that communities continue to contribute to the global response to HIV and AIDS.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication World Development Report 2011(World Bank, 2011)The 2011 World development report looks across disciplines and experiences drawn from around the world to offer some ideas and practical recommendations on how to move beyond conflict and fragility and secure development. The key messages are important for all countries-low, middle, and high income-as well as for regional and global institutions: first, institutional legitimacy is the key to stability. When state institutions do not adequately protect citizens, guard against corruption, or provide access to justice; when markets do not provide job opportunities; or when communities have lost social cohesion-the likelihood of violent conflict increases. Second, investing in citizen security, justice, and jobs is essential to reducing violence. But there are major structural gaps in our collective capabilities to support these areas. Third, confronting this challenge effectively means that institutions need to change. International agencies and partners from other countries must adapt procedures so they can respond with agility and speed, a longer-term perspective, and greater staying power. Fourth, need to adopt a layered approach. Some problems can be addressed at the country level, but others need to be addressed at a regional level, such as developing markets that integrate insecure areas and pooling resources for building capacity Fifth, in adopting these approaches, need to be aware that the global landscape is changing. Regional institutions and middle income countries are playing a larger role. This means should pay more attention to south-south and south-north exchanges, and to the recent transition experiences of middle income countries.Publication World Development Report 2006(Washington, DC, 2005)This year’s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person’s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report’s main message is that, in the long run, the pursuit of equity and the pursuit of economic prosperity are complementary. In addition to detailed chapters exploring these and related issues, the Report contains selected data from the World Development Indicators 2005‹an appendix of economic and social data for over 200 countries. This Report offers practical insights for policymakers, executives, scholars, and all those with an interest in economic development.Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.Publication Doing Business 2014 : Understanding Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises(Washington, DC: World Bank Group, 2013-10-28)Eleventh in a series of annual reports comparing business regulation in 185 economies, Doing Business 2014 measures regulations affecting 11 areas of everyday business activity: Starting a business, Dealing with construction permits, Getting electricity, Registering property, Getting credit, Protecting investors, Paying taxes, Trading across borders, Enforcing contracts, Closing a business, Employing workers. The report updates all indicators as of June 1, 2013, ranks economies on their overall “ease of doing business”, and analyzes reforms to business regulation – identifying which economies are strengthening their business environment the most. The Doing Business reports illustrate how reforms in business regulations are being used to analyze economic outcomes for domestic entrepreneurs and for the wider economy. Doing Business is a flagship product by the World Bank and IFC that garners worldwide attention on regulatory barriers to entrepreneurship. More than 60 economies use the Doing Business indicators to shape reform agendas and monitor improvements on the ground. In addition, the Doing Business data has generated over 870 articles in peer-reviewed academic journals since its inception.