Peter Hall and Rosemary Taylor (Chapter 3, in this volume) suggest that we think of the health and happiness of individuals as depending on the resources they can mobilize to confront the challenges that face them. An analogous argument might apply to collectivities, from families and communities to national states. Examining the massive threats to human health created by the AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa, I ask what shapes the resources collectivities can bring to bear to meet the challenges of AIDS.

This chapter lays out broad questions about the role of institutions and culture in responding to AIDS. It draws on research during three visits to sub-Saharan Africa (Botswana in July 2003 and June 2006 and Malawi in June and July of 2004 and 2006), about seventy interviews with staff from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working on the ground on AIDS projects across sub-Saharan Africa, and an initial effort at mapping the universe of organizations responding to Africa's AIDS pandemic.

OUTLINING THE ISSUES

No one questions the enormity of the AIDS crisis on the African continent. The epidemiological models are inexact, but the best estimates are that of the approximately 33 million people currently infected with HIV, more than 22 million are in sub-Saharan Africa, with an estimated 1.7 million Africans newly infected in 2007. Perhaps 17 million Africans have already died of AIDS, and in some places deaths among groups such as teachers, nurses, and soldiers threaten the collapse of entire institutional spheres.