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A growing number of studies have concluded that South Africa has one of the highest cases of HIV infections in the world. With the epidemic continuing to evolve at an alarming rate, the government of South Africa has regarded the HIV/AIDS epidemic as a developmental and socio‐economic policy issue. This study explores the impact of HIV/AIDS on food demand in South Africa. Food demand functions were estimated using time‐series data for the period 1970 to 2000.Simulation analyses were undertaken to examine “with AIDS” and “without AIDS” scenarios. Unlike previous empirical findings, which dwell on the major negative impact of HIV/AIDS on food demand patterns in South Africa, this study foreshadows a more mixed outcome of both negative and positive impacts on the demand patterns for specific food types in South Africa as consequences of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and recommends policy changes.

A key development in South Africa's response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic has been the recognition that there are a number of external factors in the socio-economic and physical environment in which people live that are central to the spread of the epidemic. A growing body of evidence suggests that poverty, inequality, inadequate shelter, overcrowding and other symptoms of underdevelopment are fundamental drivers in undermining people's ability to practice and negotiate safe sex, thereby enhancing vulnerability to HIV infection. Similarly, these factors affect the ability of individuals, households and communities to cope with the subsequent health and socio-economic effects of infection. In a context where large numbers of South Africans live in poverty, without adequate shelter and access to basic resources and services, HIV/AIDS will thus have far reaching and serious impacts, not only on citizens and communities but also for and on the state.

The South African government has shifted its approach to housing development from the provision of housing to a sustainable human settlements approach, as encapsulated in its 2004 development plan ‘Breaking New Ground’. This paper explores the conceptual and theoretical links between this sustainable human settlements agenda and HIV/AIDS. It argues that the creation of sustainable and integrated human settlements is potentially a crucial component in the response to HIV/AIDS. However, this can only be achieved if HIV/AIDS becomes an explicit component of sustainable human settlements planning, development and management. In light of this, the paper discusses key characteristics of integrated, sustainable human settlements and reviews the current instruments for the implementation of a sustainable settlement agenda in South Africa in relation to the dynamics and implications of HIV/AIDS both for the South African state and its people. The paper concludes with a set of policy recommendations to make HIV/AIDS an integral component of the sustainable human settlements agenda.

Impact mitigation strategies in sub-Saharan Africa on HIV/AIDS in the education sector involved initially the development of education sector policies. This study traces the policy development initiatives, level of implementation, progress made and existing challenges. The study is based on a close (textual) reading of authoritative literature from United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), World Bank, UNESCO and UNICEF for the last decade on global monitoring of HIV/AIDS and statistical data. Studies on the impact of HIV/AIDS on the education sector in sub-Saharan Africa have been brought into focus and themes have been extracted and synthesised from a comparative perspective to guide the development of this chapter. Across the countries, the education sector HIV/AIDS policies had concurrence with the countries’ national HIV and AIDS policy or guidelines, and conformed to international conventions, national laws, policies, guidelines and regulations. Most of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa showed a significant decline in HIV prevalence among young women or men and opportunities to improve HIV-prevention knowledge and behaviour still abound. Antiretroviral therapy and other types of treatment have expanded since the early 2000s, but the number of AIDS-related deaths remains high. This chapter fulfils an identified information/resources need and amplifies the progress achieved in the mitigation of the impact of HIV/AIDS on the education sector specifically and humanity in general.

HIV/AIDS has implications of varying severity across a wide spectrum of businesses in South Africa. Financial accountability is therefore required to enable investors and other stakeholders to be advised regarding the effect of HIV/AIDS on company performance and to make informed decisions. This paper explores financial accountability with regard to HIV/AIDS. It investigates top management’s awareness, coping strategies and financial information (available and required) that is communicated internally and to stakeholders. Its empirical content concentrates on major public companies that operate in industries in which HIV/AIDS is known to be present. It reveals that companies are informed and pragmatic. However, many do not engage in legally permissible prevalence testing, and thereby frustrates attempts at a clear definition of the problem and at forecasting. Most companies are therefore unable to project what the effect of HIV/AIDS on future performance and profitability will be. The paper concludes that, although HIV/AIDS receives attention in terms of corporate governance, there is an absence of financial accountability via annual reports and financial statements. Many companies have no information available, while others may elect not to disclose it.

The mining sector represents a significant portion of the South African economy. The recent announcement of the proposed black empowerment bill for the mining sector caused share prices to plummet. This reaction, in turn, caused a marked devaluation of the rand against other major currencies. Anything that impacts negatively on the mining sector will therefore have an adverse effect on the South African economy. This paper considers the affect that HIV/AIDS will have on the mining sector and, by implication, on the South African economy. Consideration is given to whether mining companies manage this risk properly and whether it is reasonably accounted for and disclosed in the financial statements. Conclusions are drawn and recommendations made regarding HIV/AIDS risk management and how HIV/AIDS issues can be disclosed fairly. Although the management teams of mining companies have introduced a HIV/AIDS risk‐management process and have commenced the disclosure of HIV/AIDS information, the disclosure is still far from adequate.

Catalogues how Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are meeting, individually, the AIDS epidemic with governmental and non‐governmental organizations (NGOs). Uses data from the United Nations and World Bank. Gives background of NGOs in East Africa and their field work. Concludes that the social dimensions of each country are very restrictive in slightly differing ways, with the various religious beliefs also having an effect which is deleterious in nature. States that, even so, there are more similarities than there are differences in the three countries.

Attempts to address the gap in literature on the experiences of HIV/AIDS care workers in Africa through studies of professional care givers in Lome, Togo. Uses a pilot study of 30 care givers and examines the roles, services and coping mechanisms of these individuals. Presents the demographics characteristics of the care givers and the type of services provided. Discusses how they cope with stress and their feeling regarding the prevention of HIV. Concludes they face enormous demands which may affect their own health and families. Suggests that a support network would be helpful.

The HIV epidemic in South Africa affects young people in their teenage years, the majority of whom are young women located in schools. Sexual violence and gender inequalities create vulnerabilities for young women increasing their risk of HIV. Promoting their sexual health as well as preventing the disease amongst young people remains a substantial educational and health priority. South African education has well-developed policies related to HIV and AIDS education in schools. Despite this the disproportionate burden that young women bear in relation to HIV remains acute. What remains missing is the development of an integrated HIV and AIDS education approach that takes children, gender and sexuality seriously. Given the urgency of the disease in the country, there is need for renewed efforts to integrate gender and sexuality within HIV and AIDS education. This is the central focus of this chapter.

This paper seeks to highlight the nature and possible effect of the South African higher education (HE) sector's human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) workplace programmes response and progress.

A discourse approach is employed within the contextualization of the role of the South African higher education institution (HEI) in addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

The focus of wellness is rapidly becoming part of any corporate landscape and institutions of HE are an integral part of this landscape. Significant gains have been made in the implementation of creative and innovative HIV/AIDS workplace programmes in South Africa's HEI's at the individual, group, family, and at local community level.

All HEIs are currently aligning their HIV/AIDS policies with the National HIV/AIDS sector policy framework. Further research is thus needed on HIV/AIDS where this aspect forms part of a strategic and holistic approach to employee wellness.

Mainstreaming of HIV/AIDS within the institution and the realignment of other allied institutional HIV/AIDS policies together with the establishment of a monitoring and evaluation tool with relevant indicators to gauge the level of responsiveness of institutions.

This study is the first that seeks to ascertain the level of importance of employee wellness in South Africa's HE sector. Therefore, this study sets an important benchmark for further research in the area.

The purpose of this paper is to look at aspects of gender issues in HIV/AIDS (non)affection on land restitution and survival strategies in the Capricorn district of Limpopo province of South Africa.

The study administered questionnaires to purposively selected AIDS‐affected households. For comparison, other randomly selected household categories that have lost members to other causes of death and those who have not experienced any deaths were included in the sample with a view to determining whether the disease could potentially affect households' ability to make potential claims to land, their access to, use of and retention of land, all of which engender a spread of survival strategies as the household's food and livelihood security is threatened.

In the study area, land is still largely held under traditional customs. Households having land to reclaim as a proportion of those interviewed are low. There are more aged heads among land‐claiming AIDS‐affected households. There is a significant presence of women heads among the land‐claiming households. Accepting cash compensation for land restitution is not popular in the study area. AIDS‐affected households are completely food insecure. As a coping strategy, households borrow money or food. AIDS‐affected households, defined as households that have lost members to AIDS‐related illnesses, sell their livestock because they are no longer able to manage the herd and they sell their crops to meet contingencies. Among them, it is the female‐headed households that are significantly not coping well. Gender is not significantly associated with receipt of social grants in any of the household categories. It is also not significantly associated with the adoption of the maintaining strategy of receiving food parcels or borrowing money or food nor in the adoption of reductive strategy of starving for one or two days. The sale of land is not a coping strategy in the study area.

There are few studies that link the HIV/AIDS pandemic to the land restitution process in South Africa. The findings could assist in understanding the coping/survival strategies of affected households and in designing suitable policies to assist them.