ABSTRACT
From the psychological distress of infected individuals and their families to the social disruption in affected communities, from the microeconomic level, the HIV/ AIDS epidemic is undermining significant improvements in health indicators and compounding prexisting economic difficulties onto which structural adjustments programmes have already been imposed. Until a clearer understanding is achieved of the potential and real impact of HIV/AIDS at the individual, community, and societal level, efforts to prevent further HIV transmission and its consequences for women as well as to provide appropriate care, treatment, and support for those who are living with HIV/AIDS in developing countries will provide sub-optimal results. Action-oriented research and programme development involving women infected and affected by the epidemic and aimed at enhancing the responses of families and communities to the HIV epidemic combined with efforts to sensitize and engage decision makers are the first steps to countering the potentially devastating psychological and economic impact on women of HIV in developing countries.
