The Social Context of HIV/AIDS in Africa - Centre of African Studies

Social Context of HIV/AIDS in Africa (10 ECTS),

By Lise Rosendal Østergaard

Wednesdays 9-12, First session Wednesday 10th of September 2008.

There seems to be an increasing recognition of the fact that the world is faced with two distinct HIV/AIDS epidemics today: one for Sub Saharan Africa and one for the rest of the globe. Whereas HIV and AIDS everywhere else than in Africa seems to be confined to population groups with known high risk behaviours (in particularly unprotected anal sex and injecting drugs with unclean needles and syringes) and their partners, the epidemic in Africa, especially in Southern and Eastern Africa has spread into the general population. Whereas the international estimates of HIV prevalence and incidence have been revised over the past years indicating that the global epidemic has halted, Sub Saharan Africa is still severely hit by the epidemic with the majority of HIV positive individuals in the world and with eight countries with a prevalence over 15 % (Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe).

This course will look into the different dynamics that characterises the HIV epidemic in Sub Saharan Africa. It is a cross disciplinary course that will draw on public health, anthropology, gender studies and political science.