A Critique of the Response by Global Health Initiatives to HIV/AIDS in Africa: Implications for Countries Emerging from Conflict

Abstract

This article provides a critical perspective on global health initiatives (GHIs) in response to HIV/AIDS in post-conflict African countries. Focusing on the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and UN bodies, it argues that many global health initiatives lack consideration of the complexities of addressing HIV/AIDS in post-conflict contexts. It finds that prevention programmes fail to prioritize the population groups who are at high risk; that treatment and care interventions are shaped by an emergency aid paradigm, which does not ensure ongoing well-being for people living with HIV/AIDS; and that global health initiatives often impede the capacity of local governance and health systems. Given that global health initiatives have yet to fully engage with the challenges of implementing HIV/AIDS interventions in conflict-affected African contexts, the article concludes by proposing recommendations in this regard.