HIV/AIDS policy in Africa: what has worked in Uganda and what has failed in Botswana?

Abstract A comparison of HIV/AIDS policies in Botswana and Uganda is revealing. It helps to highlight the kinds of policies that are necessary to come to terms with the pandemic in Africa, where it is already a public health disaster. It is argued that the promotion of condoms at an early stage proved to be counter‐productive in Botswana, whereas the lack of condom promotion during the 1980s and early 1990s contributed to the relative success of behaviour change strategies in Uganda. Other important factors included national and local‐level leadership, the engagement (or alienation) of religious groups and local healers and, most controversially, procedures of social compliance. We end with a call for more draconian measures than are currently envisaged. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.