aids and africa introduction subsaharan africa is the epicenter of the hivaids epidemic and in this issue of the journal seven authors discuss the moral social and medical implications of having 70 of those stricken living in this area anton a van niekerk considers complexities of plague in this region poverty denial poor leadership illiteracy womens vulnerability and disenchantment of intimacy and the importance of finding responses that empower its people solomon benatar reinforces these issues but also discusses the role of global politics in subsaharan africa especially discrimination imperialism and its exploitation by first world countries given the public health crisis udo schklenk and richard e ashcroft defend compulsory licensing of essential hivaids medications on consequentialist grounds keymanthri moodley discusses the importance of conducting research and the need to understand a moderate form of communitarianism also referred to as ubuntu or communalism to help some africans understand research as an altruistic endeavour godfrey b tangwa also defends traditional african values of empathy and ubuntu discussing how they should be enlisted to fight this pandemic loretta m kopelman criticizes the tendency among those outside africa to dismiss the hivaids pandemic attributing one source to the ubiquitous and misguided punishment theory of disease the authors conclude that good solutions must be cooperative ventures among countries within and outside of subsaharan africa with far more support from wealthy countries