AIDS Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about AIDS, including details on testing, treatment, prevention, hiv, life expectancy.

Expanding access to antiretroviral therapy in sub-saharan Africa: avoiding the pitfalls and dangers, capitalizing on the opportunities.

McCoy D, Chopra M, Loewenson R, Aitken JM, Ngulube T, Muula A, Ray S, Kureyi T, Ijumba P, Rowson M

Health Systems Trust, PO Box 808, Durban 4000, South Africa.

We describe a number of pitfalls that may occur with the push to rapidly expand access to antiretroviral therapy in sub-Saharan Africa. These include undesirable opportunity costs, the fragmentation of health systems, worsening health care inequities, and poor and unsustained treatment outcomes. On the other hand, AIDS "treatment activism" provides an opportunity to catalyze comprehensive health systems development and reduce health care inequities.However, these positive benefits will only happen if we explicitly set out to achieve them. We call for a greater commitment toward health activism that tackles the broader political and economic constraints to human and health systems development in Africa, as well as toward the resuscitation of inclusive and equitable public health systems.

Published 29 December 2004 in Am J Public Health, 95(1): 18-22.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2004-2009 AIDS Research Today. All Rights Reserved.