Research On AIDS In South Africa 1983-2008

Human civilization is accompanied by infectious disease.It affects the development of human society even more deeply than war and revolution.With the advancement of capitalism,industrialization and urbanization,infectious disease has transcended the limits of national borders,class,races,ages and genders,and has spread widely around the world.The threat of infectious disease has caused to human health has never been so huge.In the era of globalization,infectious diseases not only test the medical and health systems of different countries,but also have a great impact on the political,economic and social stability of them.In today's world,infectious diseases are not only a public health issue,but also a development issue.The world's first AIDS case occurred in 1980 s.Initially,HIV only spread among socially marginalized groups in developed countries of Europe and the United States.Later,it rapidly spread around the world that mainly in developing countries.At the beginning of the epidemic,under the dominance of biomedical and epidemiological discourse,AIDS was only constructed as a public health issue.Later,the humanities and social science participated in the social construction of AIDS.Critical medical anthropology believes that the world's political and economic system affect the distribution of disease;social organizations and cultures are as likely to cause disease as pathogens in the natural environment.The vast majority of developing countries had been exploited by colonialism,imperialism and capitalism in the past,and new governments after independence often inherit the legacy of colonialism.Since the 1980 s,developing countries have been passively involved in the tide of neo-liberal global capitalism.Poverty and inequality have been intensified,social mobility has been unprecedentedly increased,and HIV has also entered these countries.Colonialism and apartheid in South Africa have caused poverty,unemployment and high inequality in most people.Although the new South Africa has legally transformed itself into a democratic system,its old and sick political and economic systems have been functioning.The legacy of apartheid has not only abated,but has further solidified and deteriorated.The AIDS virus appeared on the eve of the democratic transition in South Africa.It was fermented with the political and economic crisis,making South Africa the center of AIDS in the world.This article utilizes reports from the South African Ministry of Health and government departments,relevant research results on AIDS in Europe,America,and South Africa,and attempts to jump out of the biomedical framework and discuss the AIDS problem in South Africa from the perspective of critical medical anthropology.And try to reveal its interaction with the political,economic,social,historical,and cultural systems,then rebuild it as a development issue.In the era of globalization,the problem of AIDS has become a major challenge for countries around the world.As the center of AIDS in the world,the investigation and research on AIDS in South Africa can promote the other countries' comprehensive knowledge and understanding of AIDS.This article attempts to clarify the following issues based on sorting out the materials: Firstly,South Africa's HIV infection model is shaped by its special political,economic,and cultural systems.Secondly,in the face of the AIDS pandemic,the different reactions of different groups in South African society are also regular,reflecting their different views on state power and human rights.Thirdly,AIDS is like a prism,refracted the historical scars of apartheid,contradictory political situations,and deformed economic structures in South Africa through the appearance of gender.