Introduction

Abstract

With the end of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015 there is the opportunity to critically reflect upon where we are now in terms of progress towards global development, what challenges remain and the very nature of development itself. Health had a prominent place in the MDGs and HIV was one of the ‘big winners’ — its inclusion in goal six recognised that addressing the virus is fundamental to sustainable development.¹ The virus was seen to stand apart from other global health issues because of the exceptional nature and sheer scale of the challenges it posed. The MDG agenda, coupled with the role of powerful advocates and the recognition of the UN Security Council that HIV posed an international security threat, contributed to the rise of ‘AIDS exceptionalism’, whereby the virus has attracted global commitments and resources on an unprecedented level as compared to other health concerns (see Smith and Whiteside, 2010; Nguyen, 2010, p. 13). Today, after three decades of HIV, crucial progress has been made. In recent years there have been encouraging reports that the pandemic, following what can be considered the natural cycle of viruses, is stabilising and the spread has begun to reverse. In 2012, the Executive Director of UNAIDS (the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS), Michel Sidibé, expressed in his Statement for World AIDS Day how ‘We have moved from despair to hope. Far fewer people are dying from AIDS.