Socioeconomic and Psychosocial Impacts of HIV/AIDS and Responses at Different Levels of Society

The security, economic stability, and social fabric of Sub-Saharan African countries have been seriously threatened by HIV/AIDS (ILO 2001; UNAIDS 2009). Foremost among the severe impacts are high morbidity and mortality rates, consequent economic hardship at all levels of society, social stigma, and discrimination toward the infected and affected. Different community groups experience the impacts of HIV/AIDS differently. The impacts are most direct at the individual and household levels (Barnett and Whiteside 2006, p. 198), but many structural impacts are similarly severe at the community level (ECA n.d.). Although the incidence of HIV declined in 22 Sub-Saharan African countries by more than 25% between 2001 and 2009 as a result of antiretroviral (ARV) treatments and behavioral changes (UNAIDS 2010, p. 8), it is becoming increasingly clear that the cumulative impacts of AIDS on existing and potential human and social capital and on the livelihood of future generations will extend over the long term (ECA n.d.). Nevertheless, the full socioeconomic, cultural, demographic, and political implications for Sub-Saharan African countries, communities, and households are still poorly understood.