One in six adults in sub-Saharan Africa will die in the prime of his or her life of AIDS.

AIDS and Power explains why social and political life in Africa goes on in a remarkably normal way, and how political leaders have successfully managed the AIDS epidemic so as to overcome any threats to their power. Partly because of pervasive denial, AIDS is not a political priority for electorates, and therefore not for democratic leaders either. AIDS activists have not directly challenged the political order, instead using international networks to promote a rights-based approach to tackling the epidemic. African political systems have proven resilient in the face of AIDS’s stresses, and rulers have learned to co-opt international AIDS efforts to their own political ends. AIDS and Power concludes that without political incentives for HIV prevention, this failure will persist.

From Zed Books’ African Arguments Series. Published with the support of the International Development Research Centre and in association with the International African Institute, the Social Science Research Council and the Royal African Society. Read comments on this book.  Buy this book from Amazon.