THE MICROECONOMICS OF THE AIDS EPIDEMIC IN AFRICA

The AIDS epidemic has ravaged sub-Saharan Africa, particularly the Cen tral and Eastern regions. Although data are poor, the authors contend that a rational-choice approach, which has proved illuminating with re spect to AIDS in the United States, can be fruitfully applied to the A frican experience as well. They suggest that differences in the preval ence of prositution and other nonmonogamous sexual activity, the preva lance of other sexually transmitted diseases, and the real economic co sts of condoms can be used to explain differences between the US and A frican patterns of the epidemic, including the positive correlation in Africa between income and the likelihood of being infected by the AID S virus, in contrast to the negative correlation in the United States. They also argue that some of the policy interventions that seem promi sing in the US context, such as partner notification, are unlikely to be effective in Africa, and that the most effective method of controll ing the African epidemic might be through measures that increase econo mic equality between women and men.