Debt relief & social investment: linking the HIPC initiative to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa: the case of Zambia

Fantu Cheru

Review of African Political Economy, 2000, vol. 27, issue 86, 519-535

Abstract: Besides being a global public health emergency, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has become the foremost contemporary threat to the development of many African countries. Past achievements in economic growth, improved life expectancy and decreasing child mortality have been reversed by the rapid spread of the HIV virus. It is estimated that each day in Africa more than 5,000 people die from AIDS or HIV related illness, with the figure expected to climb to almost 13,000 by 2005. In the context of this unfolding humanitarian crisis, creditor nations and institutions should cancel outstanding debt immediately so that resources of affected countries can be directed toward containment of the epidemic, within broader strategies of poverty alleviation. Addressing this crisis should not be construed as an act of charity, but an obligation ‐ and a necessity. Linking debt relief to HIV/AIDS is one small but important step in the long march to eradicate poverty in the poorest developing countries. This article examines a proposal formulated in Zambia to enact such a link.

Date: 2000
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DOI: 10.1080/03056240008704487

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Review of African Political Economy is currently edited by Graham Harrison, Branwen Gruffydd Jones, Claire Mercer, Nicolas Pons-Vignon, Aurelia Segatti and Ray Bush

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