The Impact of the AIDS Epidemic on Teachers in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

This is the first of two articles that consider the impact of the AIDS epidemic on the education sector in sub-Saharan Africa. Teachers are regularly singled out as being particularly vulnerable to HIV infection and as such they are considered to be a ' high-risk group'. However, this study presents recent evidence from high HIV prevalence countries in eastern, central and southern Africa that suggests that this is not the case. Teacher mortality rates are considerably lower than those for the adult population as a whole. Furthermore, while demographic projections show AIDS-related mortality for teachers increasing very sharply during the next 5-10 years, teacher mortality rates are in fact declining in a number of high prevalence countries mainly as a result of behaviour change and the increasing availability of anti-retroviral drugs. The second article critically reviews the available evidence on the impact of the epidemic on the education of orphans and other directly affected children.