ABSTRACT
The governance of HIV/AIDS has come to represent a multifaceted and complex operation that is not working. Instead of reversing the spread of HIV and AIDS, it is restructuring the political foundations of countries in sub-Saharan Africa through the pursuit of change in state, individual and societal behaviour through economic incentive. In some countries contributions to combating HIV/AIDS can constitute up to a third of the total of all foreign aid. States are introducing new mechanisms of governance to manage and distribute this aid. This often involves altering their perceptions of and relationships with the civil society actors they have often ignored or suppressed. Communities that have long self-organised to educate and care for the sick have received signifi cant fi nancial support and shifted to models of fi nancially driven service delivery. The private sector has introduced HIV/AIDS components to various training manuals, health and safety, pension plans and non-discriminatory practice. This has also entailed a substantive shift towards the non-state service economy as the pandemic becomes big business. People are aware of HIV/AIDS: people are taking measures to address HIV/AIDS.
