Date of Award
2012
Document Type
Thesis
Department
Political Science
First Advisor
Patrick Donnay
Abstract
The Muslim-majority countries long had been considered to be free of HIV/AIDS epidemic because of their strict religious and moral codes. However, the HIV prevalence rates are increasing in some Islamic states, and even more or so rapidly in a several cases that it is no longer valid to assume the Islamic religion protects its followers from the risks of contracting HIV. Contrary to the popular belief concerning the prevention of the HIV/AIDs epidemic, data collected from well-recognized international organizations such as the WHO and Freedom House indicate that democratization, strong government leadership, and wider and equal human rights for men and women are not necessarily the precursors for lower HIV/AIDS rates in the Islamic countries. Rather, it is more deeply rooted and complicated problem that concern religious and socio-cultural factors in the society, which are not always visible in numbers. This paper presents both quantitative and qualitative researches on Muslim-majority countries with increasing and decreasing HIV prevalence rates to further examine what works in the region in terms of containing further spread of the disease. By doing so, I hope that this paper will fill the gap in the literature, as there is an undeniable lack of study despite the urgent situation.
Recommended Citation
Yamaguchi, Kaoru, "HIV/AIDS in the Muslim-Majority Countries: Formula for Low Prevalence" (2012). Political Science Theses and Capstones. 126.
https://pines.bemidjistate.edu/capstone-polisci/126
Included in
African Studies Commons, Arabic Studies Commons, Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons, Demography, Population, and Ecology Commons, Development Studies Commons, Epidemiology Commons, Global Studies Commons, Health Policy Commons, Immune System Diseases Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, International Public Health Commons, Islamic World and Near East History Commons, Medical Humanities Commons, Medicine and Health Commons, Near and Middle Eastern Studies Commons, Other International and Area Studies Commons, Political Science Commons, Substance Abuse and Addiction Commons, Virus Diseases Commons
