ABSTRACT
The euphoria resulting from treatment protocols that reduce Human Immunodeficiency virus transmission must nevertheless be relativised, particularly in relation to sub-Saharan Africa, because of the lack of attention health policies have paid to resistance that recent research suggests could set off a “fourth epidemic”. The trajectory of the political in the context of highly technicised public policy allows one to discern, at the summit of the State, political sentiments concerning a concrete public action carried out by legitimate bodies and translational networks. The world, and Africa in particular, faced a de facto “refusal to intervene”, because applications for aid had to be structured according to ever more restrictive accounting and administrative standards. Studies of international governance too often minimise the African State’s position as a major actor. African States follow diverse trajectories, their similarities and dissimilarities engendered by contrasting dynamics.
