The Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) constitutes the worst hazard to health care systems in Eastern Africa. Misallocation
of scarce resources of AIDS Control Programmes will unavoidably lead to additional infections and casualties. The following
paper discusses a system dynamics model which allows to assess the impact of different interventions on a pattern population
in Eastern Africa. It becomes obvious that short- and long-term consequences of these programmes differ significantly. The
optimal allocation of resources, therefore, is highly complex and calls for decision support systems to sustain AIDS control
programmes.
Key words: Africa – AIDS – Decision support – HIV – Prevention – System dynamics – Time preference