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November 19, 2006
Why HIV/AIDS is so important in the Middle East?
Over the past two decades, HIV/AIDS shows its power to destroy most of economies in sub Saharan Africa. The epidemic is now threatening to spread with equal force in Russian Federation, India, China, and many other transition economies including the countries in the Middle East and North Africa. HIV/AIDS infection is important because of its characteristics; it targets people in their most productive years with high morbidity and mortality. It can reverse human development achievement; increase poverty and increase the incidence of other infectious diseases including Tuberculosis.
The Human cost of HIV/AIDS is incalculable, from pain and guilt in individuals to threatened social and political security at the state level. HIV/AIDS reverses the process of building human capabilities. The most visible consequences of HIV/AIDS are cost of prevention, care and treatment.
Jenkins and Robalino (2002) carried out a simulation model in which the impact of HIV/AIDS on MENA region economy, they projects the direct cost of HIV/AIDS to be an average around 1.5 percent of GDP by 2015 for most countries in MENA region.
Posted by Syamak Moattari at November 19, 2006 10:44 PM
