Conclusion

This volume demonstrates that the social sciences can contribute significantly to a better understanding of the complexities of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and to developing effective and appropriate prevention, care, and support programs in Sub-Saharan Africa during this time of stepped-up responses. Disciplinary blindness and biased research pursuing biomedical objectives, procrastination by some governments and the international community in responding to the epidemic in a timely fashion, and the vested interests of aid organizations contributed to discrepancies between national research agendas and the realities of HIV risk, impacts, and vulnerabilities and the needs of the African people. The lesson that is still being learned in some quarters is that most HIV prevention programs in Africa have failed mainly because biomedical researchers and administrations failed to adequately address the social, cultural, economic, and political context of HIV/AIDS and human sexuality. Where collaboration between the social and biomedical sciences was achieved, research results were not always considered in policies and interventions. For example, the global governance of HIV/AIDS still fails to take into account local perceptions, experiences, and responses to the disease, as noted by Getnet Tadele in the Introduction. These shortcomings are also apparent in the design and implementation of some programs at the local level in Sub-Saharan Africa, reflecting deeprooted traditions, perceptions, and practices that cannot be changed without adequate understanding of socioeconomic and cultural constraints affecting the participation of HIV-infected and affected people and communities.