A colonial legacy of HIV/AIDS, NTD, and STI super-syndemics: Eugenicist foreign aid and intertwined health burdens in Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Syndemics theory has been applied to the structurally shaped, biologically facilitated co-occurrence of HIV/AIDS with Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) and with sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The biological and social pathways of interaction between all three ailments have not yet been analysed together. The effects of these diseases are often exacerbated by structural factors including access to care and socioeconomic status. We explore the interrelated biological pathways and structural factors that have further heightened the risk for HIV/AIDS, NTDs, and STIs. Furthermore, we argue women in rural areas are at an increased risk for all three diseases due to biological and social factors including increased distance to quality care and lower reproductive autonomy. This paper integrates the established syndemics of HIV/NTDs and HIV/STIs within the historical and modern contexts of colonisation and neo-colonisation in Nigeria. We explore the effects of colonisation on women’s health by evaluating the influence of foreign aid policies, structural programmes, and shifting gender norms. Applying a syndemic approach, juxtaposed by historical contextualisation, offers important implications for the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, STIs, and NTDs. Our analysis suggests a perspective through which to view health of regions with a history of colonisation.

KEYWORDS:

• Syndemics
• reproductive health
• global health
• eugenics
• colonisation

ORCID

Mehar Maju http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0845-2795

Andria Sharma http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5206-7379

Archana Beeram http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3657-9849

Bayla Ostrach http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2803-3747

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.