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Book AIDS Pandemic   The Untold Story

Download or read book AIDS Pandemic The Untold Story written by Dorothy Keville and published by . This book was released on 2021-10-05 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Dorothy writes her book at a critical time. COVID-19 and AIDS are different viruses - but pandemics lay bare the inequities and problems in our social order and the programs we create to solve problems." -Tom Sheridan, Author of Helping the Good Do Better In the mid-1990's, HIV/AIDS was a new and unknown disease requiring a revolution in attitude, approach, and funding. Dorothy Keville helped facilitate the first Federally funded program for HIV/AIDS drugs by bringing together an unlikely alliance of angry activists, conservative politicians and unwilling drug manufacturers. Their work evolved into the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) Working Group, an initiative which provided medicine and care for HIV positive people in all U.S. States and Territories. In Part One, we meet many of the former ADAP managers and directors who share their own experiences and efforts of working tirelessly to get the pandemic under control when there was no manual and no procedures to follow. HIV/AIDS was different from any other national health crisis to that point and these are the stories of some of the unsung heroes. In Part Two, Dorothy shares the pieces of her own experience, from early volunteer work through to positions with federal agencies and multinational corporations, and even acting. Her memories reveal a life of compassion, dedicated to those with HIV, to the homeless, and to many others. As an added bonus, the book features a practical guide on the Nuts & Bolts of Government for those interested in getting involved in the political process at the local, state, and national levels. Note: A portion from the sale of this book will be donated to Africa Bridge, the non-profit Dorothy founded dedicated to the care of children whose parents have died of HIV/AIDS.

Book AIDS Pandemic

    Book Details:
  • Author : Dorothy Keville
  • Publisher :
  • Release : 2021-05-07
  • ISBN :
  • Pages : 157 pages

Download or read book AIDS Pandemic written by Dorothy Keville and published by . This book was released on 2021-05-07 with total page 157 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is of importance in introducing readers to Dorothy Keville and her work that was the cornerstone effort in facilitating the first Federally funded program for HIV/AIDS drugs. When she began more than three decades ago, hers was a revolutionary concept, and in the mid-1990's there was a new and unknown disease named HIV/AIDS that needed a revolution in attitude, approach and funding. With her generous manner and savvy insight to human behavior she masterminded unheard of collaboration bringing together angry activists, conservative politicians and unwilling drug manufacturers to Get Things Done.

Book The Invisible Epidemic

Download or read book The Invisible Epidemic written by Gena Corea and published by HarperCollins Publishers. This book was released on 1992 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The dramatic, timely, and previously untold story of women and the AIDS epidemic--a report that reveals the startling truth behind the statistics and the experiences of the many women at the forefront of AIDS activism, prevention, and caretaking.

Book Dispatches from the AIDS Pandemic

Download or read book Dispatches from the AIDS Pandemic written by Kevin M. De Cock and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2023 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the nation's leading public health agency. Among its responsibilities, the agency works with public health partners to investigate unexplained illnesses and help prevent future cases. For example, CDC investigators identified the cause of a severe respiratory illness among attendees at an American Legion convention in Philadelphia in 1976 (Legionnaires' Disease) and linked the newly recognized toxic-shock syndrome with the use of super-absorbent tampons by American women a few years later (, ). And, when reports of rare and severe diseases in previously healthy young homosexual men in the United States began appearing in the early 1980s, CDC launched investigations into what would become known as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)"--

Book The Epidemic

    Book Details:
  • Author : Jonathan Engel
  • Publisher : Harper Collins
  • Release : 2009-10-13
  • ISBN : 0061856762
  • Pages : 571 pages

Download or read book The Epidemic written by Jonathan Engel and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-10-13 with total page 571 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the Castro bathhouses to AZT and the denial of AIDS in South Africa, this sweeping look at AIDS covers the epidemic from all angles and across the world. Engel seamlessly weaves together science, politics, and culture, writing with an even hand—noting the excesses of the more radical edges of the ACT UP movement as well as the conservative religious leaders who thought AIDS victims deserved what they got. The story of AIDS is one of the most compelling human dramas of our time, both in its profound tragedy and in the extraordinary scientific efforts impelled on its behalf. For gay Americans, it has been the story of the past generation, redefining the community and the community's sexuality. For the Third World, AIDS has created endless devastation, toppling economies, social structures, and whole villages and regions. And the worst may yet be to come: AIDS is expanding quickly into India, Russia, China, and elsewhere, while still raging insub-Saharan Africa. A distinguished medical historian, Engel lets his characters speak for themselves. Whether gay activists, government officials, public health professionals, scientists, or frightened parents of schoolchildren, they responded as best they could to tragic happenstance that emerged seemingly from nowhere. There is much drama here, and human weakness and heroism too. Writing with vivid immediacy, Engel allows us to relive the short but tumultuous history of a modern scourge.

Book The Other Pandemic

Download or read book The Other Pandemic written by Lynn Curlee and published by Charlesbridge Publishing. This book was released on 2023-06-06 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A searing photo-illustrated historical memoir from the LGBTQIA+ frontlines of the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s. Before COVID-19 made "pandemic" a household word in 2020, there was the AIDS pandemic of the 1980s and 1990s. Author Lynn Curlee explores the parallels and the difference as he recounts living in New York and Los Angeles when the disease silently took hold of the gay community. As the disease became a full-blown public health crisis, Curlee watched in horror at the devastating progression of HIV/AIDS, the staggering losses endured, and divisive politics and discrimination that cost many people their lives. With honesty and heart, Curlee tells the stories of the many friends and loved ones that he lost to the disease, including his own life partner. LGBTQ+ rights and access to health care continues to be threatened today. The Other Pandemic is a stark and strong reminder of how history speaks to the present, and this window to the past is a valuable tool for understanding our current cultural landscape. “HEARTBREAKING! This memoir of the AIDS plague is a powerful reminder to those of us who miraculously lived through it — and a valuable eye-opener for younger generations who can never allow this to happen again. With the COVID pandemic on everyone’s radar, there couldn’t be a more teachable moment. Author Lynn Curlee grabs this pulpit by the throat and fearlessly makes the case that we must never forget.” — Sam Irvin, filmmaker and author "Reading The Other Pandemic was a very personal journey for me. I lost my stepfather to AIDS in 1993 when he was just 44 years old. The way Lynn shares his own life experiences a gay man living during this historic time of loss and perseverance is so insightful, and incredibly important to share with those who were not there firsthand to experience it." — Carol Bennett, daughter of Tim Bennett, a major character in THE OTHER PANDEMIC "Reading The Other Pandemic: An AIDS Memoir is akin to settling in with a dear, dear friend for a long-overdue catchup. Lynn Curlee’s effortless and evocative prose is much more than a poignant account of a not-distant-past epidemic that galvanized the LGBTQ+ community. It is a deeply personal and brave story of chosen families, political deafness, and hard-fought resolve. Curlee both broke my heart and mended it." —Jeffrey Dale Lofton, author of Red Clay Suzie "The Other Pandemic is a poignant and raw examination of the AIDS crisis that highlights how much the past shapes our present. Lynn Curlee has accomplished something beautiful here—I could not put it down. I am grateful he chose to share his loved ones with the world." — Leo Rocha, Journalist and GLAAD "20 under 20" honoree

Book 28

    28

    Book Details:
  • Author : Stephanie Nolen
  • Publisher : Vintage Canada
  • Release : 2010-10-22
  • ISBN : 0307366545
  • Pages : 418 pages

Download or read book 28 written by Stephanie Nolen and published by Vintage Canada. This book was released on 2010-10-22 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From one of our most widely read, award-winning journalists – comes the powerful, unputdownable story of the very human cost of a global pandemic of staggering scope and scale. It is essential reading for our times. In 28, Stephanie Nolen, the Globe and Mail’s Africa Bureau Chief, puts a human face to the crisis created by HIV-AIDS in Africa. She has achieved, in this amazing book, something extraordinary: she writes with a power, understanding and simplicity that makes us listen, makes us understand and care. Through riveting anecdotal stories – one for each of the million people living with HIV-AIDS in Africa – Nolen explores the effects of an epidemic that well exceeds the Black Plague in magnitude. It is a calamity that is unfolding just a 747-flight away, and one that will take the lives of these 28 million without the help of massive, immediate intervention on an unprecedented scale. 28 is a timely, transformative, thoroughly accessible book that shows us definitively why we continue to ignore the growth of HIV-AIDS in Africa only at our peril and at an intolerable moral cost. 28’s stories are much more than a record of the suffering and loss in 28 emblematic lives. Here we meet women and men fighting vigorously on the frontlines of disease: Tigist Haile Michael, a smart, shy 14-year-old Ethiopian orphan fending for herself and her baby brother on the slum streets of Addis Ababa; Alice Kadzanja, an HIV-positive nurse in Malawi, where one in six adults has the virus, and where the average adult’s life expectancy is 36; and Zackie Achmat, the hero of South Africa’s politically fragmented battle against HIV-AIDS. 28 also tells us how the virus works, spreads and, ultimately, kills. It explains the connection of HIV-AIDS to conflict, famine and the collapse of states; shows us how easily treatment works for those lucky enough to get it and details the struggles of those who fight to stay alive with little support. It makes vivid the strong, desperate people doing all they can, and maintaining courage, dignity and hope against insurmountable odds. It is – in its humanity, beauty and sorrow – a call to action for all who read it.

Book Black Death  AIDS in Africa

Download or read book Black Death AIDS in Africa written by Susan Hunter and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2015-06-02 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To the surprise of many, George W. Bush pledged $10 billion to combat AIDS in developing nations. Noted specialist Susan Hunter tells the untold story of AIDS in Africa, home to 80 percent of the 40 million people in the world currently infected with HIV. She weaves together the history of colonialism in Africa, an insider's take on the reluctance of drug companies to provide cheap medication and vaccines in poor countries, and personal anecdotes from the 20 years she spent in Africa working on the AIDS crisis. Taken together, these strands make it unmistakably clear that a history of the exploitation of developing nations by the West is directly responsible for the spread of disease in developing nations and the AIDS pandemic in Africa. Hunter looks at what Africans are already doing on the ground level to combat AIDS, and what the world can and must do to help. Accessibly written and hard-hitting,Black Death brings the staggering statistics to life and paints for the first time a stunning picture of the most important political issue today.

Book The AIDS Crisis

    Book Details:
  • Author : Douglas A. Feldman
  • Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
  • Release : 1998-06-25
  • ISBN : 0313007950
  • Pages : 312 pages

Download or read book The AIDS Crisis written by Douglas A. Feldman and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 1998-06-25 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: AIDS has grown in just two decades from a rare disease to one that has already killed millions of men, women, and children worldwide. To help high school and college students understand the history and current status of AIDS as a social, political, psychological, public health, and cultural phenomenon, this documentary history provides 228 short and highly readable selections from primary and secondary sources of information about AIDS and HIV. Its scope covers the entire history of the epidemic from its beginnings to early 1997. The documents, many of which cannot easily be found elsewhere, will help the reader to understand and debate the many perspectives and points of view on this controversial topic. Douglas A. Feldman, one of the country's leading specialists in international and domestic AIDS social research, and Julia Wang Miller, a research consultant, have selected documents and provided explanatory introductions to them to help readers gain a deeper understanding of the sociocultural ramifications of AIDS. Following a narrative historical overview of the AIDS crisis, the work is organized into nine topical chapters: the history of HIV/AIDS; the impact of the epidemic in the United States and globally; HIV/AIDS within communities and populations; AIDS in the developing world; the human side of AIDS; the politics of AIDS; education and behavioral change; legal and ethical issues; and the future of AIDS. Each chapter contains an introductory narrative overview of the topic, brief explanatory introduction to each document, and list of suggested readings. A glossary of terms and an AIDS resource directory of organizations to contact for further information complete the work. This important documentary history belongs on the shelves of every public school and college and university library.

Book Hidden Mercy

    Book Details:
  • Author : Michael J. O'Loughlin
  • Publisher : Broadleaf Books
  • Release : 2021-11-30
  • ISBN : 1506467717
  • Pages : 296 pages

Download or read book Hidden Mercy written by Michael J. O'Loughlin and published by Broadleaf Books . This book was released on 2021-11-30 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 1980s and 1990s, the height of the AIDS crisis in the United States, was decades ago now, and many of the stories from this time remain hidden: A Catholic nun from a small Midwestern town packs up her life to move to New York City, where she throws herself into a community under assault from HIV and AIDS. A young priest sees himself in the many gay men dying from AIDS and grapples with how best to respond, eventually coming out as gay and putting his own career on the line. A gay Catholic with HIV loses his partner to AIDS and then flees the church, focusing his energy on his own health rather than fight an institution seemingly rejecting him. Set against the backdrop of the HIV and AIDS epidemic of the late twentieth century and the Catholic Church's crackdown on gay and lesbian activists, journalist Michael O'Loughlin searches out the untold stories of those who didn't look away, who at great personal cost chose compassion--even as he seeks insight for LGBTQ people of faith struggling to find a home in religious communities today. This is one journalist's--gay and Catholic himself--compelling picture of those quiet heroes who responded to human suffering when so much of society--and so much of the church--told them to look away. These pure acts of compassion and mercy offer us hope and inspiration as we continue to confront existential questions about what it means to be Americans, Christians, and human beings responding to those most in need.

Book The AIDS Pandemic

    Book Details:
  • Author : James Chin
  • Publisher : CRC Press
  • Release : 2018-10-08
  • ISBN : 1315358190
  • Pages : 316 pages

Download or read book The AIDS Pandemic written by James Chin and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2018-10-08 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work includes a foreword by Jeffrey Koplan, Vice President, Academic Health Affairs, Emory University, Atlanta, Formerly Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This groundbreaking new book blows apart the myths about who is at risk of getting AIDS and shows how these myths are driven by moral and political pressures. It provides an objective, logical, clear, epidemiologically based analysis on the current situation and situates itself firmly at marked variance with the politically correct position of UNAIDS and most AIDS activists. "The AIDS Pandemic" argues that the story of HIV has been distorted by UNAIDS and AIDS activists in order to support the myth of the high potential risk of HIV epidemics spreading into the general population. In the past, most policy makers and members of the public have uncritically accepted UNAIDS' high prevalence estimates and projections when in fact lower HIV prevalence estimates are more accurate. Time, money and resources are being wasted worldwide. This book is full of fresh analysis for all people working in any capacity in HIV/AIDS programmes. It will be invaluable to undergraduate and postgraduate healthcare students, health and social care professionals and the international media. Policy makers and shapers will find the pioneering information crucial to the future of the AIDS strategy. 'For close to a half century, my work as a public health epidemiologist has involved field research, program management, and teaching, mostly on public health surveillance and prevention and control of communicable diseases. [Since 1981] I have been involved virtually full time with the international response to the AIDS pandemic which is without question one of the most severe infectious disease pandemics in modern times. During my public health career that began in the early 1960s, I have always been considered a part of conventional or mainstream medical science. However, since the mid-1990s, I have found myself swimming upstream against mainstream AIDS organisations. I have, during this period, gradually come to the realisation that AIDS programs developed by international agencies and faith based organizations have been and continue to be more socially, politically, and moralistically correct than epidemiologically accurate.' - James Chin, in the Preface. 'Controversy and differing opinions have been hallmarks of the AIDS epidemic since its onset. The scope of the problem, how to identify high risk groups without increasing the burden of stigma, the safety of blood products, the best balance between prevention and treatment, have all been hot issues sometimes dividing the public health community. The passion and conflicts about how to consider and address the AIDS pandemic reflect the huge impact this disease has had globally and its interplay with macro economic, legal, social, political, national security and ethical domains. Vital, provocative, thoughtful, direct, passionate, rational and willing to challenge conventional wisdom. "The AIDS Pandemic" is filled with information, rational arguments and opinions, often intermingled. It is a rare book on epidemiology that puts so much of the author's personality and viewpoints, along with his knowledge and experience, before the reader. The result is a thought-provoking, likely-to-be-controversial, contribution to the AIDS literature that should engage and stimulate the reader.' - Jeffrey Koplan, in the Foreword.

Book The Secret Epidemic

Download or read book The Secret Epidemic written by Jacob Levenson and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2005-02-08 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Half the people in the United States who are diagnosed with HIV are now African American. Through the eyes of those on the front lines of the crisis, journalist Jacob Levenson tells a story of race and public health that spans fifty years and reveals how AIDS has become one of the leading killers of young black men and women. Medical researcher Mindy Fullilove investigates the epidemic’s links to crack cocaine, the Bronx fires, and national health policy. Desiree Rushing must reconcile her crack addiction and HIV infection with the fate of her city, family, and the black church. David deShazo, a white AIDS worker in Alabama, fights to prevent the American South from becoming the epidemic’s new epicenter. And Mario Cooper, a gay, infected son of the black elite confronts the boundaries of American race politics in Washington, D.C. Seamlessly interweaving personal stories with national policy, Levenson indelibly captures this devastating epidemic and illuminates its potential to expand our understanding of race in America.

Book AIDS at 30

    Book Details:
  • Author : Victoria A Harden
  • Publisher : Potomac Books, Inc.
  • Release : 2012
  • ISBN : 1612345166
  • Pages : 296 pages

Download or read book AIDS at 30 written by Victoria A Harden and published by Potomac Books, Inc.. This book was released on 2012 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Society was not prepared in 1981 for the appearance of a new infectious disease, but we have since learned that emerging and reemerging diseases will continue to challenge humanity. AIDS at 30 is the first history of HIV/AIDS written for a general audience that emphasizes the medical response to the epidemic. Award-winning medical historian Victoria A. Harden approaches the AIDS virus from philosophical and intellectual perspectives in the history of medical science, discussing the process of scientific discovery, scientific evidence, and how laboratories found the cause of AIDS and developed therapeutic interventions. Similarly, her book places AIDS as the first infectious disease to be recognized simultaneously worldwide as a single phenomenon. After years of believing that vaccines and antibiotics would keep deadly epidemics away, researchers, doctors, patients, and the public were forced to abandon the arrogant assumption that they had conquered infectious diseases. By presenting an accessible discussion of the history of HIV/AIDS and analyzing how aspects of society advanced or hindered the response to the disease, AIDS at 30 illustrates for both medical professionals and general readers how medicine identifies and evaluates new infectious diseases quickly and what political and cultural factors limit the medical community's response.

Book Use What You Have  Resolving the HIV AIDS Pandemic

Download or read book Use What You Have Resolving the HIV AIDS Pandemic written by Roger W. Hoerl and Presha E. Neidermey and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2009-07-16 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With over 25 million dead, AIDS has pounced on the world like a medieval plague, ranking among the greatest killers in history. Despite billions of international aid dollars, the development of effective medical treatments for HIV (the virus that causes AIDS), and the efficacy of condoms in preventing the spread of HIV during sex, 6,000 people are dying daily, and over 15 million orphans have been left behind. Perhaps most surprisingly, many educated westerners are only vaguely aware of AIDS as a disease threatening gays or Africans, and do not believe it has any relevance for them. Few have noticed the “feminization” of AIDS, taking AIDS from a disease primarily infecting gay men to one infecting more women than men. Women are at the forefront of the fight against AIDS in many parts of the world, nowhere more so than in Sub-Saharan Africa. The authors of this book make a clear case that HIV and AIDS form the most critical crisis facing the human race in this century by providing the reader a deeper understanding of the root causes of, and plausible solutions for, the AIDS pandemic. They include several engaging human-interest stories of real people impacted by AIDS. Table Of Contents Part I: What Is AIDS and Why Should I Care? Chapter 1: Nikiwe’s Story: Why AIDS Is the Global Challenge of the 21st Century Chapter 2: Sinikithemba: What Exactly Are HIV and AIDS? Chapter 3: Say No to Sugar Daddies: From Rare Infections to Global Pandemic Part II: AIDS Trumps Foreign Aid Chapter 4: Life and Death in Zimbabwe: Why AIDS Is Easy to Solve—On Paper Chapter 5: But for the Grace of PEPFAR: The World Heard and Responded Chapter 6: Mama Africa’s Burden: The Limitations of Money Part III: How AIDS Can Be Defeated With Your Help Chapter 7: Bophelong Hospice: Some Things That Actually Work Chapter 8: The Softer Side of Capitalism: A Suggested Path Forward Chapter 9: Use What You Have: How You Can Play a Part in Defeating AIDS Excerpts from the foreword to the book, written by Dr. Helga Holst, CEO of McCord Hospital in Durban, South Africa, are given below: It was in Boston, on February 10, 2003, that the Sinikithemba Choir from Durban, South Africa, performed at the opening of the Tenth Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), and shared the stage with the keynote speaker, President Bill Clinton. This Zulu choir of HIV positive men and women were part of a much larger group of mostly infected women, who worked together at McCord Hospital on beadwork projects to support their medical care, and who sang as they worked. They used what they had, their powerful and beautiful voices, to bring hope, unity and resources to their communities. One of the choir members, a beautiful and eloquent young woman, shared the poignant story of her own journey with AIDS, and brought tears to the eyes of many of the world’s top scientists, researchers and clinicians as they were reminded of why they had committed their lives to finding the answers to this devastating disease. She shared what she had, her own story, and it impacted the hearts of thousands! By the time I took up the position of Medical Superintendent at McCord Hospital in Durban, in 1993, AIDS was more common, but there was still no affordable treatment available. In the mid 1990’s we started several social support programs, of which the income generating beadwork projects were one. Social clubs, consisting mostly of women, were formed. They supported each other through times of hardship, illness and death, and cared for the children. The Zulu people, amongst whom we work, have been gifted by the most beautiful voices. The women would often sit in the parking areas at the hospital between the cars with their hands speedily busy on beadwork orders, chatting and laughing, while keeping a

Book AIDS Sutra

    Book Details:
  • Author : Negar Akhavi
  • Publisher : Anchor
  • Release : 2008-10-14
  • ISBN : 030745472X
  • Pages : 354 pages

Download or read book AIDS Sutra written by Negar Akhavi and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2008-10-14 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this groundbreaking anthology, sixteen renowned writers tell the hidden story of the AIDS crisis, illuminating the complex nature of one of the major problems facing the developing world. India is home to almost 3 million HIV cases, but AIDS is still stigmatized and shrouded in denial. Discrimination against HIV-affected individuals in hospitals, schools, and even among families is common, just as discussion about HIV and participation in prevention or treatment programs are not. In this riveting book, sixteen of India's most well-known writers go on the road to uncover the reality of AIDS in India and tell the human stories behind the epidemic.Kiran Desai travels to the coast of Andhra Pradesh, where the sex workers are considered the most desirable; Salman Rushdie meets members of Mumbai's transgender community; William Dalrymple encounters the devadasis, women who have been “married” to a temple goddess and thus are deemed acceptable for transactional sex. Eye-opening, hard-hitting, and moving, AIDS Sutra presents a side of India rarely seen before.

Book History of AIDS

    Book Details:
  • Author : Mirko D. Grmek
  • Publisher : Princeton University Press
  • Release : 1990
  • ISBN : 0691024774
  • Pages : 292 pages

Download or read book History of AIDS written by Mirko D. Grmek and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 1990 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By drawing on the latest discoveries in virology, microbiology, and immunology, Mirko Grmek depicts the AIDS epidemic not as an isolated incident but as part of the long, but far from peaceful, coexistence of humans and viruses.

Book Tinderbox

    Book Details:
  • Author : Craig Timberg
  • Publisher : Penguin
  • Release : 2012-03-01
  • ISBN : 1101560614
  • Pages : 539 pages

Download or read book Tinderbox written by Craig Timberg and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2012-03-01 with total page 539 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this groundbreaking narrative, longtime Washington Post reporter Craig Timberg and award-winning AIDS researcher Daniel Halperin tell the surprising story of how Western colonial powers unwittingly sparked the AIDS epidemic and then fanned its rise. Drawing on remarkable new science, Tinderbox overturns the conventional wisdom on the origins of this deadly pandemic and the best ways to fight it today. Recent genetic studies have traced the birth of HIV to the forbidding equatorial forests of Cameroon, where chimpanzees carried the virus for millennia without causing a major outbreak in humans. During the Scramble for Africa, colonial companies blazed new routes through the jungle in search of rubber and other riches, sending African porters into remote regions rarely traveled before. It was here that humans first contracted the strain of HIV that would eventually cause 99 percent of AIDS deaths around the world. Western powers were key actors in turning a localized outbreak into a sprawling epidemic as bustling new trade routes, modern colonial cities, and the rise of prostitution sped the virus across Africa. Christian missionaries campaigned to suppress polygamy, but left in its place fractured sexual cultures that proved uncommonly vulnerable to HIV. Equally devastating was the gradual loss of the African ritual of male circumcision, which recent studies have shown offers significant protection against infection. Timberg and Halperin argue that the same Western hubris that marked the colonial era has hamstrung the effort to fight HIV. From the United Nations AIDS program to the Bush administration's historic relief campaign, global health officials have favored well-meaning Western approaches--abstinence campaigns, condom promotion, HIV testing--that have proven ineffective in slowing the epidemic in Africa. Meanwhile they have overlooked homegrown African initiatives aimed squarely at the behaviors spreading the virus. In a riveting narrative that stretches from colonial Leopoldville to 1980s San Francisco to South Africa today, Tinderbox reveals how human hands unleashed this epidemic and can now overcome it, if only we learn the lessons of the past.