Doctoral Dissertation Research: Opportunistic Infections: The Governance of HIV/AIDS

University Of California-Irvine, Irvine CA

Investigators

Abstract

This dissertation research investigates barriers to access to medical treatment for epidemic diseases, with a particular focus on national and international agendas that determine the allocation of global health resources and the reasons inequalities persist even when resources are present. The investigators aim to examine (1) how new modes of governance are enabled through disease epidemics, and the ways this governance reconfigures claims for citizenship by infected populations; (2) how these claims for citizenship are mediated by state and non-state institutions that determine access to treatment; and (3) the political and moral logics that influence the implementation of the policy. The aims of this study will be addressed through an ethnographic case study of the "Four Frees and One Care" policy for people living with HIV/AIDS in China. There are an estimated 700,000 people infected with HIV in the country, and approximately 190,000 people in need of antiretroviral treatment. Since 2003, the government has implemented this national policy, which provides free antiretroviral drugs, economic and educational assistance, and other benefits to infected populations and their families. The unequal implementation of this policy, however, enables some people to access these entitlements while excluding others from the same right. This research will employ ethnographic methods, including participant observation, interviews, and archival research. This research will provide new insights into the global health governance of HIV/AIDS. It will also illuminate how moral politics intersects with and shapes the priorities of global health agendas. The findings from this research will deepen understanding of the relationship between epidemics, citizenship, and governance.