Commitment for Action: Assessing Leadership for Confronting the HIV/AIDS Epidemic - Lessons Learned from Pilot Studies in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Vietnam Anita Bhuyan (June 2005)  Full Document (English)      Order for free      email to me  As HIV/AIDS has evolved from being viewed as a public health issue-to be dealt with primarily by doctors and scientific researchers-to being recognized as an epidemic that affects every aspect of a country's national and socioeconomic development, the need for strong commitment and leadership has become even more apparent. The need for strong leadership is acutely felt in low prevalence countries where there is still an opportunity to contain the spread of the epidemic. But for many reasons, isolating, defining, and measuring what "political commitment" really is has been difficult. This paper reflects on key questions surrounding political commitment and leadership in the HIV/AIDS arena. It begins with a review of what we know about political commitment today-why it matters, what its characteristics are, how it has been measured to date, and how it can be strengthened. The paper then turns attention to the multi-country pilot assessment study in Asia, reviewing common themes from the country studies, analyzing lessons learned, and providing concluding thoughts and recommendations for future study and action.