Publication:
HIV/AIDS and Mental Health

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Files in English
English PDF (1.18 MB)
2,454 downloads
English Text (161.08 KB)
476 downloads
Date
2005-01
ISSN
Published
2005-01
Editor(s)
Abstract
Mental and neurological disorders have an intertwined relationship with HIV, yet are often overlooked when AIDS interventions are planned and implemented. Cognitive disorders, substance abuse, and disorders of personality can influence behavior in ways that lead to greater risk of HIV infection. Conversely, HIV/AIDS itself can lead to psychological conditions due to circumstances surrounding the disease, and psychiatric conditions resulting from HIV-related neurological changes. Such disorders can adversely influence the progression of the disease, lead to noncompliance with prescribed medical treatment, and increase the likelihood that people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) will act in high-risk ways. Since the World Bank is the largest long-term investor in the prevention and mitigation of HIV/AIDS in developing countries, it has an important role to play in mental health interventions related to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The main purpose of this document is to increase knowledge of the relationship between HIV/AIDS and mental health and highlight the need for psychosocial support for PLWHA. The document begins with a description of the global AIDS pandemic, addresses psychosocial risks for infection, then discusses the socio-economic impact of HIV/AIDS. This is followed by a description of the neuro-psychiatric and psychological disorders associated with HIV/AIDS and the social and economic implications of failing to address these disorders. Next, current World Bank AIDS initiatives are considered, and opportunities and challenges for including mental health and psychosocial interventions in AIDS programming are explored. The document concludes with recommendations for future initiatives aimed at meeting the mental health and psychosocial needs of PLWHA.
Link to Data Set
Citation
Baingana, Florence; Thomas, Rachel; Comblain, Christine. 2005. HIV/AIDS and Mental Health. Health, Nutrition and Population (HNP) discussion paper;. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13741 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
Associated URLs
Associated content
Report Series
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Publication
    Early Childhood Development and Skills across the Life-Course through the Lens of the Developing Brain
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-12) Chapko, Dorota
    Human development and development are inseparable, and now new evidence emerges that brain development is the key driving mechanism behind this association. The foundations of brain architecture are established early in life. Critical aspects of its structure begin to be shaped by experience before and soon after birth. The current report discusses brain development from a life-course perspective with a particular emphasis on early childhood development (ECD), skills formation, resilience, and aging. There is mounting evidence that early and sustained investments in brain development have economic and social returns that can benefit current and future generations. This paper synthesizes knowledge across multiple disciplines and is weighted towards findings from brain sciences to encourage a new perspective on human development initiatives among policy makers and international development practitioners. The report discusses the role of social policies in shaping brain function and structure. The policy-relevant findings from brain sciences research can greatly enhance the ability to carry out cost-effective policies that foster human development over the life-course, eliminate extreme poverty, and improve shared prosperity.
  • Publication
    Disease and Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa, Second Edition
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2006) Jamison, Dean T.; Feacham, Richard G.; Makgoba, Malegapuru W.; Bos, Eduard R.; Baingana, Florence K.; Hofman, Karen J.; Rogo, Khama O.; Jamison, Dean T.; Feacham, Richard G.; Makgoba, Malegapuru W.; Bos, Eduard R.; Baingana, Florence K.; Hofman, Karen J.; Rogo, Khama O.
    Since the publication of the first edition of "Disease and Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa" (report no. 9784 (1991)), many new sources of health and demographic information have become available, including data on trends in HIV infection from antenatal clinic surveillance sites, the first set of African life tables from a growing number of demographic surveillance sites, injury statistics from a small number of injury mortality surveillance registers, and cancer data from cancer registers. Improved methods for estimating the incidence of several other diseases, including tuberculosis, maternal mortality, and chronic diseases, have also improved the reliability of health statistics. Verbal autopsy studies have linked with demographic surveillance sites, adding to our knowledge on changes in the cause-of-death composition in several countries. Notwithstanding these advances in health statistics, a theme that emerges from all the chapters in this volume is that too little is known about trends in the diseases and conditions included here in order to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of programs intended to produce better health outcomes. As we get closer to the 2015 end point of the Millennium Development Goals, reaching the goals will become increasingly challenging. The continued improvement of disease surveillance and other regularly published health information remains as important a priority for African health systems as it was for the first edition.
  • Publication
    Outlining the Scope for Public Sector Involvement in Mental Health
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2002-08) Beeharry, Girindre; Whiteford, Harvey; Chambers, David; Baingana, Florence
    The paper documents the large and increasingly important contribution made by mental disorders to the global burden of disease. Disease burden does not provide sufficient justification for public intervention (understood as financing, provision, mandates, regulation or information) in the field of mental health. While there exists cost-effective interventions for some mental health disorders, the existence of such interventions, on their own, does not provide a sufficient basis for public intervention. The popular burden of disease and cost-effectiveness arguments therefore provide a weak foundation upon which to build a case for public intervention - and, a fortiori, for World Bank support to such intervention - in the field of mental health. This paper applies an algorithm for decision-making borrowed from Musgrove (1999) that orders the main criteria for public intervention to the field of mental health. The locus for reform efforts in the field is defined by the gap between the existing and the desirable features of mental health financing and provision.
  • Publication
    Transport for Health : The Global Burden of Disease from Motorized Road Transport
    (Seattle: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, 2014-03-31) Global Road Safety Facility, The World Bank; Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
    This report summarizes the findings of a long and meticulous journey of data gathering and analysis to quantify the health losses from road deaths and injuries worldwide, as part of the path-finding Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study. It is important, first, to acknowledge the profound contribution made by the lead authors and global team of injury prevention professionals to estimate the disease burden of road trauma, before absorbing their findings and recommendations. Without their dedication and tenacity, the way forward would be less certain. The first GBD study, published nearly two decades ago, signaled an emerging road safety crisis in developing regions of the world. It triggered a remarkable program of global advocacy that culminated in the United Nations decade of action for road safety and global plan to bring road safety outcomes under control in these regions by 2020. However, limited investment has been mobilized so far to implement the UN initiative. The second GBD studies, and related analyses presented in this report, confirm the importance of road safety as a global development priority and the urgency with which it must be addressed. The report's findings highlight the growth in road deaths and injuries globally, and their substantial impacts on maternal and child health, despite sustained reductions over the last three to four decades in high-income countries. Combined with the deaths arising from vehicle pollution, the road transport death toll exceeds that of, for example, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, or diabetes. This statistic further reinforces the call for global action. Without these GBD estimates we would not have a clear picture of the true situation because official country data in the developing world vastly understate the scale of road transport health losses.
  • Publication
    Harm Reduction Policies and Interventions for Injection Drug Users in Thailand
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011-08) Tyndall, Mark
    The World Bank initiated a review of HIV prevention among injection drug users in Thailand, with the objective of providing technical assistance to strengthen national capacity to develop state-of-the-art injecting drug use harm reduction interventions. Thailand has received international recognition for its successful interventions to reduce the transmission of HIV among female sex workers and military recruits. It is looked upon as a role model for HIV education and awareness campaigns that include the extensive promotion and wide acceptance of condoms as an HIV prevention strategy. Thailand has the most progressive and comprehensive antiretroviral program in the region with a reported coverage of over 80 percent of eligible individuals. In 2001, it embarked on a progressive universal health care program that provides free access to a wide array of health care diagnostics and therapeutics for the people of Thailand. With these impressive achievements, it is remarkable how poorly Thailand has responded to the HIV epidemic among injection drug users (IDUs). From available data, it appears that the HIV prevalence rates among IDUs have remained high and stagnant over the last decade. Failure to provide effective interventions to reduce HIV transmission among drug users has resulted in unnecessary suffering, and for many, HIV-related death. Continued inaction threatens to undermine successful HIV prevention efforts in the country through ongoing HIV transmission among injection drug users and their sexual partners. The current focus on enforcement and punishment, along with the reliance on compulsory drug treatment centers, has done little to control drug use in Thailand. The unintended consequence of this approach has been to push drug users into precarious and dangerous environments that have directly led to risky drug using patterns and persistently high rates of HIV transmission. Adopting a harm reduction approach to deal with injection drug use could have a major impact on reducing HIV transmission as well as engaging drug users into better health care and effective drug treatment. This will require strong leadership in key government Ministries and related agencies so that the central stakeholders can roll out harm reduction programs. Thailand has the potential to greatly reduce the transmission of HIV among injection drug users and become a regional leader in harm reduction.

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

  • Publication
    Argentina Country Climate and Development Report
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11) World Bank Group
    The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.
  • Publication
    Crime and Violence in Central America : A Development Challenge - Main Report
    (World Bank, 2011-01-01) World Bank
    Crime and violence are now a key development issue for Central American countries. In three nations El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras crime rates are among the top five in Latin America. This report argues that successful strategies require actions along multiple fronts, combining prevention and criminal justice reform, together with regional approaches in the areas of drug trafficking and firearms. It also argues that interventions should be evidence based, starting with a clear understanding of the risk factors involved and ending with a careful evaluation of how any planned action might affect future options. In addition, the design of national crime reduction plans and the establishment of national cross-sectoral crime commissions are important steps to coordinate the actions of different government branches, ease cross-sectoral collaboration and prioritize resource allocation. Of equal importance is the fact that national plans offer a vehicle for the involvement of civil society organizations, in which much of the expertise in violence prevention and rehabilitation resides. Prevention efforts need to be complemented by effective law enforcement. The required reforms are no longer primarily legislative in nature because all six countries have advanced toward more transparent adversarial criminal procedures. The second-generation reforms should instead help deliver on the promises of previous reforms by: (i) strengthening key institutions and improving the quality and timeliness of the services they provide to citizens; (ii) improving efficiency and effectiveness while respecting due process and human rights; (iii) ensuring accountability and addressing corruption; (iv) increasing inter-agency collaboration; and (v) improving access to justice, especially for poor and disenfranchised groups. Specific interventions reviewed in the report include: information systems and performance indicators as a prerequisite to improve inter-institutional coordination and information sharing mechanisms; an internal overhaul of court administration and case management to create rapid reaction, one-stop shops; the strengthening of entities that provide legal counseling to the poor and to women; and the promotion of alternative dispute-resolution mechanisms and the implementation of community policing programs.
  • Publication
    The Mexican Social Protection System in Health
    (World Bank, Washington DC, 2013-01) Bonilla-Chacín, M.E.; Aguilera, Nelly
    With a population of 113 million and a per-capita Gross Domestic Product, or GDP of US$10,064 (current U.S. dollars), Mexico is one of the largest and highest-income countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The country has benefited from sustained economic growth during the last decade, which was temporarily interrupted by the financial and economic crisis. Real GDP is projected to grow 3.8 percent and 3.6 percent in 2012 and 2013, respectively (International Monetary Fund, or IMF 2012). Despite this growth, poverty in the country remains high; with half of the population living below the national poverty line. The country is also highly heterogeneous, with large socioeconomic differences across states and across urban and rural areas. In 2010, while the extreme poverty ratio in the Federal District and the states of Colima and Nuevo Leon was below 3 percent, in Chiapas, Guerrero, and Oaxaca it was 25 percent or higher. These large regional differences are also found in other indicators of well-being, such as years of schooling, housing conditions, and access to social services. This case study assesses key features and achievements of the Social Protection System in Health (Sistema de Proteccion Social en Salud) in Mexico, and particularly of its main pillar, Popular Health Insurance (Seguro Popular, PHI). It analyzes the contribution of this policy to the establishment and implementation of universal health coverage in Mexico. In 2003, with the reform of the General Health Law, the PHI was institutionalized as a subsidized health insurance scheme open to the population not covered by the social security schemes. Today, the PHI covers all of its intended affiliates, about 52 million people
  • Publication
    Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21) Luna-Bazaldua, Diego; Levin, Victoria; Liberman, Julia; Gala, Priyal Mukesh
    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
    Guide to the Debt Management Performance Assessment Tool
    (Washington, DC, 2008-02-05) World Bank
    The purpose of this document is to provide guidance and supplemental information to assist with country assessments of debt management performance, using the Debt Management Performance Assessment (DeMPA) tool. The DeMPA is a methodology used for assessing public debt management performance through a comprehensive set of 15 performance indicators spanning the full range of government Debt Management (DeM) functions. It is based on the principles set out in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank guidelines for public debt management, initially published in 2001 and updated in 2003. It is modeled after the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) framework for performance measurement of public financial management. The DeMPA has been designed to be a user-friendly tool to undertake an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses in government DeM practices. This guide provides additional background and supporting information so that a no specialist in the area of debt management may undertake a country assessment effectively. The guide can be used by assessors in preparing for and undertaking an assessment. It is particularly useful for understanding the rationale for the inclusion of the indicators, the scoring methodology, and the list of supporting documents or evidence required, and the questions that could be asked for the assessment.