Author: Lee-Nah Hsu

Foreword

The AIDS epidemic is perhaps the most destructive force on the planet today. It has already caused more casualties than all of the armed conflicts in recent decades. It infects and affects families, communities, and organizations in every region of the world. Governments and their militaries are not impervious to its devastation as the HIV epidemic subverts their national security.
The majority of the AIDS fatalities are among young adults who are the most productive members of a society; those remaining are often children and the elderly. These vulnerable populations are then struggling to survive in the face of the resulting scarcity of resources. Such socio-economic set-backs undermine the achievements gained from development efforts to date and are fertile soil for the seeds of civil or social unrest.
This paper examines both the causes and effects of the rapid spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South East Asia. It also recommends possible strategies to avert the HIV threats to national security through a combined health and development approach.

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August 2001