AIDS: a disease of oppression

I was on the BBC World Service last night, making the case that HIV/AIDS can be characterised as a "disease of oppression".

Firstly, political oppression makes it difficult to get the prevention message out, which is absolutely fundamental to stopping the spread of the disease.

Look at what happened in Thailand in 2003, for example: the government decided to crack down on drug users, imprisoning thousands and killing others. Since then, infection rates have soared among drug users.

Economic oppression stops people from creating the kind of prosperity that has left the west largely insulated from the disease. Many governments of poor countries restrict the ability of people to trade freely or set up businesses, resulting in poverty and unemployment. In these situations, drug abuse and prostitution are rife.

Furthermore, counterproductive government policies - such as restrictive planning laws and a lack of land title - are directly responsible for slums, which are highly conducive to the spread of HIV/AIDS.

These are all things that could be countered with government policies that empower people to engage freely in economic activity, rather than preventing them from doing so - which is far too often the case.

I expand on these points in an article I recently had published in, among other places, China's Standard.