ABSTRACT
The early HIV/AIDS epidemic, in the 1980s, challenged established public health methods (such as containment, treatment and vaccines) of addressing infectious disease. The fact that the virus spread most rapidly among already marginalized groups further raised controversial questions about social norms around sexuality, race and discrimination. As established biomedical neoliberal frames failed to explain, prevent or develop an adequate response to what was a terrifying epidemic, space was created for alternative approaches – space CSOs occupied to demand a unique rights-based response. This chapter documents the early CSO response to the epidemic, exploring
how CSOs contributed to the framing of the emerging global response, in which they established themselves as key actors and experts. It considers who CSOs worked with and how they challenged global health processes to advance a rights-based response to the epidemic, up until 2008, when the prioritization of the AIDS response within GHG was increasingly questioned. This brief historical account sets the stage for the analysis in subsequent chapters.
