THE IMPACT OF HIV/AIDS ON RURAL HOUSEHOLD WELFARE IN RUKUNGIRI DISTRICT

Many energetic household members in Rukungiri district have died of HIV/AIDS. One consequence of this has been the existence of many young married household heads where at least one partner has died. This study attempts to investigate the impact of HIV/AIDS on rural household welfare in Rukungiri district. A control group approach was used. Data was collected by the use of questionnaires, interview schedule and observation from both the affected households and unaffected households. The study aimed at finding out how HIV/AIDS has led to depletion of households’ productive assets. A binary logistic regression analysis was used to establish whether there is a significant difference in the sources of income for medical expenses between
the affected households and unaffected households with the aim of finding out the extent to which HIV/AIDS has led to depletion of households’ productive assets to lead to deterioration in households’ welfare.