The HIV/AIDS pandemic striking South Africa is of historic proportions. More people are living with AIDS in South Africa than in any other country in the world. Just in the past decade, the life expectancy in South Africa has dropped from 67 to 43 years. The social and economic impact of this disease is hard to overstate. However, what is striking is the paucity of thoughtful, reflective scholarship and writing on the subject. AIDS and South Africa: The Social Expression of a Pandemic addresses the economic, social and cultural impact of HIV/AIDS as it relates to South African society.

CLAUDIA C. BERMUDES RIBIERO DA CRUZ Partner, Consumer Insight Agency JEFFREY D. LEWIS Economic Advisor in the International Trade Department and the Prospects Group in the World Bank MARILYN MARTIN Director of Art Collections for Iziko Museums of Cape Town, South Africa HOWARD PHILLIPS Associate Professor in the Department of Historical Studies, Faculty of Humanities, at the University of Cape Town, South Africa JEFFREY D. SACHS Director of The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University, USA SONIA ERLICH SACHS Pediatrician interested in pediatric issues in developing countries, especially childhood malaria and AIDS orphans VIRGINIA VAN DER VLIET Social Anthropologist, South Africa CAL VOLKS Director of the HIV/AIDS Unit at the University of Cape Town, South Africa DIANA CHAPMAN WALSH President of Wellesley College, USA