Global health politics is a new field of study. At the same time that the importance of health for economic growth and development was resonating with policymakers, the HIV and AIDS epidemic was spreading. Although fears of massive global mortality and potential political collapse did not materialize, the disease has had devastating consequences in some parts of the world and among certain groups. During the 2000s major initiatives among donor countries brought treatment to the poor. The politics of AIDS in 2017 centers around the inability of certain countries to bring the disease under control, and the need for treatment will increase inexorably in the decades ahead. Another major concern is that of low-income countries depend on the largess of donor countries to fund their treatment programmes. Global political changes, but especially in the United States, may mean money is no longer forthcoming, increasing mortality among these populations.