"Letting Them Die": Why HIV/AIDS Prevention Programmes Fail (African Issues)

"In the old South Africa we killed people. Now we're just letting them die." ―Pieter Dirk Uys, South African satirist

Today in South Africa, HIV/AIDS kills about 5 in 10 young people. Many of the victims are miners and commercial sex workers who ply their trade in mining communities. In this critique of government-sponsored and privately funded HIV/AIDS prevention programs in South Africa, Catherine Campbell exposes why it has been so difficult to stop the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Campbell's research focuses on local vectors of the disease such as what people believe about the spread and prevention of AIDS, what measures they take to prevent disease, and whether they are likely to seek treatment at local AIDS clinics. "Letting Them Die" is not just an investigation into sexuality, social relations, health, and medicine; it is also a sharp review of the kinds of programs that are becoming the standard method of HIV/AIDS intervention throughout Africa.

Catherine Campbell is a Reader at the London School of Economics and an External Professor at the University of Natal.