What is the link between poverty and HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis HIV/AIDS?
Families with household members infected with HIV experience increased medical costs, reduced income, and have fewer resources for education and family care. In families already living in extreme poverty (less than $1 per day), these increased costs and loss of income can be devastating. In addition, the loss of educated adults to AIDS reduces the number of knowledgeable resources to combat the disease and puts less experienced staff into critical decision-making, training, business, and policy positions. Less than 10 percent of the total HIV/AIDS population has access to antiretroviral therapy, the medical treatment that allows them to lead productive lives. One of the main barriers to access is that the medicine is too expensive for the majority of those who are infected. Even the least expensive antiretroviral medication can cost approximately $3 per day. Misconceptions about HIV/AIDS make stigma and discrimination a major challenge in fighting the AIDS pandemic. Discrimination, as
