The geographic scope of conflict and HIV

Abstract

Background: HIV affects 74.9 million people. While there is empirical inconsistency in the conflict and HIV literature, no previous studies have questioned the effects of geographic scope of conflict on HIV. This study aims to overcome past limitations by examining on the impact of geographic scope of conflict on HIV prevalence and women's HIV prevalence.Methodology: This study analyzes 31 developing countries from 1990 to 2009 using fixed-effects regression models with Driscoll and Kraay standard errors (DKSE). DKSE adjusts higher-order autocorrelation, serial correlation, and spatial dependency.Results: This study finds that as the scope of a conflict increases, so do both overall HIV and women's HIV prevalence rates. This is the first study that reveals the impact of conflict's scope on society. Conclusion:For leaders who implement HIV policy, this study shows that international organisations and NGOs should consider expanding their efforts in fighting HIV to include areas that experience wide conflict. In addition, this study suggests for conflict literature that scope of conflict is a significant factor that should examined from the perspective of consequences of conflict.