Economic Implications of Inertia on HIV/AIDS and Benefits of Action

[Guest guest]

Ajay Mahal (2004) Economic Implications of Inertia on HIV/AIDS and

Benefits of Action. Economic and Political Weekly. March 06, 2004.

VOLUME 39, NO 10.

Abstract:

The HIV epidemic affects people in their most productive ages with

adverse impacts on life expectancy, the productivity of the labour

force and household incomes. It has not always been possible to

measure the economic impact of AIDS empirically with a reasonable

degree of precision. Moreover, while there is some evidence of

negative individual, household and firm level impact, the empirical

evidence on the impacts at the sector and national levels is still

weak.

While purely humanitarian considerations may be relevant in

supporting investments in HIV/AIDS intervention, they may not always

appear to be so for finance ministers and planners in developing

countries. To justify spending more on policies to address HIV/AIDS

in a regime of tight resource constraints, it is sometimes important

to justify investments in AIDS prevention and treatment as being more

critical relative to other investments.

To the extent that HIV/AIDS has large adverse impacts on economic

indicators and other socially desirable goals of society, policy

action may be desirable, preferably early in the epidemic, rather

than later.

http://www.epw.org.in/showIndex.php

[A pdf copy of the article is available with the moderator]