ABSTRACT

In response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, countries throughout the world have developed national AIDS programs (NAPs) tailored to the specific demands of the epidemic among their populations. By the beginning of the 1990s, national programs had been established in virtually every member country of the World Health Assembly, the main policy-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO). Although this was a major accomplishment within a five-year time frame of activity, epidemic transmission in some areas predated the establishment of prevention programs by as much as 15 years. Many of these programs were established with the guidance of WHO-brokered technical assistance and with some financial support from a global HIV/AIDS trust fund founded by the WHO in 1987 and other donor monies. They vary from country to country, but certain common features can be found in the various NAPs.