ABSTRACT
In the previous chapter, it was noted that the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which is concentrated on the working-age population in many developing countries, constitutes a drawback to development efforts. In this chapter, we explore further the adverse demographic impact of the epidemic on development in terms of losses in human resource capacity in key economic and social sectors. It is not realistic to assume that losses in human resource capacity due to HIV/AIDS can be replaced without costs. In developing countries, this might involve training and retraining programs, including in the health sector, which may not be feasible in many cases because of shortages of training facilities and personnel, or lack of money. This chapter addresses two key challenges stemming from the impact
of HIV/AIDS on human resource capacity. The first concerns the impact of the epidemic on labor and employment, in terms of the effects on the size and quality of the workforce and the implications for labor cost and demand. The second challenge relates to the loss of qualified and experienced professionals in key sectors, including health, due to AIDS-related mortality and morbidity and to labor migration. Millions of lives have been lost to HIV/AIDS in the developing world, resulting in significant quantitative and qualitative losses in labor supply which are generalized across all sectors of the economy. The concentration of the epidemic among the working age population and its economy-wide impact underline the immensity of the challenge faced by the high HIV-prevalence countries to sustain the requisite human resource capacity for present and future development needs.
