ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book reviews the literature on the social and cultural context of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Africa. It addresses several issues central to the conceptualization of policy concerning HIV and discusses the origin debates around Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). The book examines early responses by the US Agency for International Development and its subsidiary Family Health International to the AIDS epidemic in Africa. It argues that initial reactions involved a misplaced expectation that individual change supported by the provision of condoms and emphasis on safe sex practices would adequately address the overwhelming problems of the new disease. The book suggests that attention to broader issues initially would have led to more effective and fundamental prevention and treatment efforts. In Africa, heterosexual sex and its corollary of perinatal transmission is viewed as the major source of HIV transmission.
