ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the political processes that constituted the response to the arrival of the AIDS pandemic in Africa. Active participation refers to countries that envisioned and constructed their own AIDS policy beyond the formal acceptance of international guidelines. The AIDS Support Organisation best symbolises the involvement of associations in Uganda’s AIDS struggle. In promoting access to Human Immunodeficiency virus/AIDS treatment, political mobilisation thus achieved a major goal. The redistribution of strategic resources in public action against AIDS brought to the fore factors related to the country-wide health care network. The mobilisation of associations was facilitated when the State was too weak to organise the fight against AIDS or, inversely, was slowed down when the role of public authorities was paramount. In most of the cited countries, biomedical professionals, particularly those in charge of AIDS, served as an entry point for traditional pharmaceutical companies.
