HIV/AIDS is a catastrophe globally but nowhere more so than in sub-Saharan Africa, which in 2008 accounted for 67 percent of cases worldwide and 91 percent of new infections. The Institute of Medicine recommends that the United States and African nations move toward a strategy of shared responsibility such that these nations are empowered to take ownership of their HIV/AIDS problem and work to solve it.

This research project identifies the need for improvements in community based organizations and the responsibility placed on community leaders to provide and execute quality attention to the stigma related issues in African-American communities.

I wrote this dissertation for the School of Advanced Studies at University of Phoenix, Arizona, in 2011. To do the research for the dissertation, I spent quite a bit of time at the Center of Disease Control and Prevention archives as a graduate student. I also interviewed medical doctors and others who knew about the subject matter. Since I wrote this dissertation, there has been more research published that I will continue to research and add to my archival collection. The issues of this dissertation were discussed as the emergent theoretical model and its components, which included implications of research, practice, stigma, burden, advocacy, and awareness. Leadership, education, and community resources were the dominant themes that emerged in the study. The study findings imply an increased need for leaders to present public awareness about the affects HIV/AIDS has on the African American community. Future research should consider the explicit nature of the answers, which benefited the study. The information would be helpful while improving the quality of life available for African American women and would enable leaders to interact with a leadership perspective (USAID, 2009).

Written by an international panel of distinguished global healthexperts, this book distills valuable lessons from a wide variety ofsuccessful health programs that have been implemented around theworld. Global Health Leadership and Management givespractical suggestions for enhancing and developing the essentialskills of leadership, management, communication, and projectplanning for health care leaders. The book will assist healthleaders to work well within their communities and effectively plan,direct, implement, and evaluate effective programs andactivities. Global Health Leadership and Managementoutlines and describes such core competencies as Identifying challenges and developing and managing policy Developing strategies, pathways, and solutions Creating networks and partnerships and planning for change Learning from experience to build a generation of leaders Leading and managing teams by recognizing and celebratingsuccess