RELATIONSHIPS AMONG PAPERS IN THIS VOLUME
Mark Schmidt

This paper investigated the role of transition dynamics in the emergence and spread of HIV/AIDS in Uganda. In particular, I showed how historical and political transitions, as well as urbanization and industrialization were responsible for the initial amplification and spread of the virus. Further, HIV/AIDS is going to impact and be impacted by the population transition and the structure of the family in Uganda. Finally, policies that are currently used to combat the crisis are intended to prevent transmission of the virus through behavior modification. However, to be truly effective, it will be necessary to evaluate underlying problems in Ugandan society and culture, as the HIV/AIDS epidemic directly results from them.

In listening to the presentations by colleagues in the class, I was able to notice underlying themes and ideas that could be related to my own study. Here are some further examples of the relation of my project to others:

Lewis Garvin (http://www-personal.umich.edu/~lgarvin) described the role of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world, and the population transition is the single greatest threat to escaping this poverty. The Grameen Bank is a system of microcredit lending that was set up, resulting in raising the status of women, which in turn has helped stabilize population growth. A similar system of microcredit could of use in Uganda, which also needs to raise the status of women and help minimize the economic impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This is a more fundamental approach to policy than simple the alteration of sexual behaviors.

Chandra Sivakumar’s (http://www-personal.umich.edu/~chandraz/HomePage.html) study of the poverty of the worlds children was of particular interest. He went to describe the poor state of children, particularly in developing countries. Most of these children are abandoned and become street children with problems such as abuse and neglect. This characterization is particularly relevant, especially concerning the growing number of AIDS orphans in Uganda. Although the family is traditionally in charge of taking care of these children, an increasing number are having to live on their own and fall victim to many of the problems highlighted by Chandra.

Taufik Hanafi (http://www-personal.umich.edu/~topik/nre545.htm) had studied Indonesia and how improving health status is important in reducing poverty and increasing the general well being of the population. In particular, Taufik suggests that decentralization and sustainability of local health care are necessary to improve the health status of citizens in a developing country. As Uganda is experiencing such a crisis in health care right now due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, it may be of use for the government to also consider some of these policies in order to reduce the poverty and improve status of its own population.

Moira Zellner (http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mzellner/nre545.htm) and Zeynep Gocmen (http://www-personal.umich.edu/~zgocmen/nre545.htm) have both studied urbanization in relation to how it affects other transitions in Argentina and Turkey, respectively. The commonality of urbanization in the development of any country makes it seem almost inevitable. It is important to realize, though, that this urbanization can cause problems, whether it is the diminishing of water supplies for a growing population, toxicity to the environment, or the emergence of a new disease.

Although I have chosen the above projects to show similarities to my study, no two projects are mutually exclusive. Every project completed in this class has investigated some aspect of population and environment dynamics. A common theme shared between all of them is that no one transition can be studied in isolation from others. And more importantly, sometimes it is even more enlightening to study the interaction between different transitions than to study one in particular.