HIV/AIDS Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Economic impact === {{Main|Economic impact of HIV/AIDS|Cost of HIV treatment}} [[File:Life expectancy in select Southern African countries 1960-2012.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|alt=A graph showing several increasing lines followed by a sharp fall of the lines starting in the mid-1980s to 1990s|Changes in life expectancy in some African countries, 1960β2012]] HIV/AIDS affects the economics of both individuals and countries.<ref name="M117">Mandell, Bennett, and Dolan (2010). Chapter 117.</ref> The [[gross domestic product]] of the most affected countries has decreased due to the lack of [[human capital]].<ref name=M117/><ref name="Bell-et-al-2003">{{cite report |vauthors=Bell C, Devarajan S, Gersbach H |year=2003 |url=http://econ.worldbank.org/external/default/main?pagePK=64165259&theSitePK=478060&piPK=64165421&menuPK=64166093&entityID=000160016_20031110113834 |title=The long-run economic costs of AIDS: theory and an application to South Africa |access-date=April 28, 2008 |version=World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 3152 |format=PDF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605151302/http://econ.worldbank.org/external/default/main?pagePK=64165259&theSitePK=478060&piPK=64165421&menuPK=64166093&entityID=000160016_20031110113834 |archive-date=June 5, 2013 }}</ref> Without proper nutrition, health care and medicine, large numbers of people die from AIDS-related complications. Before death they will not only be unable to work, but will also require significant medical care. It is estimated that as of 2007 there were 12 million [[AIDS orphan]]s.<ref name=M117/> Many are cared for by elderly grandparents.<ref name=Greener>{{cite book |last=Greener |first=Robert |year=2002 |title=State of The Art: AIDS and Economics |chapter=AIDS and macroeconomic impact |editor-last=Forsyth |editor-first=Steven |pages=49β55 |publisher=IAEN |chapter-url=http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNACP969.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012090520/http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNACP969.pdf |archive-date=October 12, 2012 }}</ref> Returning to work after beginning treatment for HIV/AIDS is difficult, and affected people often work less than the average worker. [[Unemployment]] in people with HIV/AIDS also is associated with [[suicidal ideation]], memory problems, and social isolation. Employment increases [[self-esteem]], sense of dignity, confidence, and [[quality of life]] for people with HIV/AIDS. Anti-retroviral treatment may help people with HIV/AIDS work more, and may increase the chance that a person with HIV/AIDS will be employed (low-quality evidence).<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Robinson R, Okpo E, Mngoma N |title=Interventions for improving employment outcomes for workers with HIV |journal=The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews |volume=2015 |issue=5 |page=CD010090 |date=May 2015 |pmid=26022149 |doi=10.1002/14651858.CD010090.pub2 |pmc=10793712 |hdl=2164/6021|hdl-access=free }}</ref> By affecting mainly young adults, AIDS reduces the taxable population, in turn reducing the resources available for [[government spending|public expenditures]] such as education and health services not related to AIDS, resulting in increasing pressure on the state's finances and slower growth of the economy. This causes a slower growth of the tax base, an effect that is reinforced if there are growing expenditures on treating the sick, training (to replace sick workers), sick pay, and caring for AIDS orphans. This is especially true if the sharp increase in adult mortality shifts the responsibility from the family to the government in caring for these orphans.<ref name=Greener/> At the household level, AIDS causes both loss of income and increased spending on healthcare. A study in [[CΓ΄te d'Ivoire]] showed that households having a person with HIV/AIDS spent twice as much on medical expenses as other households. This additional expenditure also leaves less income to spend on education and other personal or family investment.<ref name="WBank">{{cite report |last=Over |first=Mead |title=The macroeconomic impact of AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa, Population and Human Resources Department |publisher=World Bank |year=1992 |url=http://www.worldbank.org/aidsecon/macro.pdf |access-date=May 3, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080527201655/http://www.worldbank.org/aidsecon/macro.pdf |archive-date=May 27, 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page