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Society in Transition - Social factors affecting HIV/AIDS in South Africa: Editorial overview
Special Edition Society in Transition - Journal of the S A Sociological Association Vol 32 No.1, 2001 ISSN 1028-9852
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Introduction - the challenge of HIV/AIDS in South Africa to the social sciences: In the absence of a straightforward medical inoculation or cure, understanding of the spread of HIV/AIDS and advice about how to intervene to limit its spread, should be largely social scientific in nature. Therefore, the social sciences should provide the main components of the relevant knowledge-base. The very considerable regional differences of social phenomena require a particular mobilisation of social science knowledge about each particular society or regional grouping of like societies. This special issue is a means through which the voices of some of Southern Africa's social scientists can combine to be better heard.
Sharp distinctions between bio-medical and social scientific knowledge should not be drawn, and the knowledge of both must be combined. Biomedical factors must be familiar to social scientists, and in particular they must be aware that much of the social understanding of diseases is in fact contributed by medical scientists.
South Africa, more broadly southern Africa, and even more broadly sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with the largest number of HIV-infected people in the world, and with one of the fastest growing rates of prevalence and incidence, seems set to plunge on further into the depths of this pandemic, with catastrophic consequences. This crisis has so far been met by rather limited policy and programme responses, and with a disjointed strategy in developing appropriate research, whether bio-medical research or social science in nature. Of course, there has been much research carried out in South Africa, but for the most part this has been ad hoc or piecemeal, and has not been brought together within an overarching framework. It is the objective of this collection to endeavour to bring together important social science material related to HIV/AIDS within Southern Africa and to indicate on the one hand where this has begun to cumulate, and on the other hand where the more important gaps still lie.
Objectives of the Special Issue
We aim to indicate some of the parameters of current social science knowledge relevant to HIV/AIDS on South Africa in particular, and to some extent Southern Africa more generally, either by actually including material in this issue or by reference in this issue to appropriate other studies.
Material on the biology of HIV/AIDS and on its more strictly medical aspects is not provided here, nor is there description or critique of governmental and other institutional responses: these are readily obtained elsewhere. The major gap that this issue focuses on is to clearly establish the facts of the social distribution of HIV/AIDS and to review the pertinence of major factors required in the understanding of this. We have not adequately reviewed the record of interventions and their degree of success or failure.
For the full Overview, download the document version of your choice from the adjacent column.
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