Product Description
A witch's curse, an imperialist conspiracy, a racist plot—HIV/AIDS is a catastrophic health crisis with complex cultural dimensions. From small villages to the international system, explanations of where it comes from, who gets it, and who dies are tied to political agendas, religious beliefs, and the psychology of devastating grief. Frequently these explanations conflict with science and clash with prevention and treatment programs. In Witches, Westerners, and HIV Alexander Rödlach draws on a decade of research and work in Zimbabwe to compare beliefs about witchcraft and conspiracy theories surrounding HIV/AIDS in Africa. He shows how both types of beliefs are part of a process of blaming others for AIDS, a process that occurs around the globe but takes on local, culturally specific forms. He also demonstrates the impact of these beliefs on public health and advocacy programs, arguing that cultural misunderstandings contribute to the failure of many well-intentioned efforts. This insightful book provides a cultural perspective essential for everyone interested in AIDS and cross-cultural health issues. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An absolute "must-read" for any health care or other professionals seeking to learn lessons from tragic failures of the past
Written by anthropologist and former missionary working in Zimbabwe Alexander Rodlach , Witches, Westerners, and HIV: Aids & Cultures of Blame in Africa is a serious-minded examination of cultural and social beliefs that give rise to harmful conspiracy theories and sometimes pose seemingly intractable barriers against attempts to prevent HIV/AIDS in the nation of Zimbabwe. Though Zimbabwe culture is the primary focus, the general insights of Witches, Westerners, and HIV are no doubt applicable to most if not all African nations suffering from the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Witches, Westerners, and HIV dissects cultural misunderstandings at length, from cultural beliefs in sorcery (including the idea that sorcerers use the power to spread HIV/AIDS) that provide an explanation for why the terrible disease afflicts good people; to the history of harm caused by colonialism as motivation for conspiracy theories that Western institutions are withholding a cure for HIV/AIDS or actually spreading HIV/AIDS by "distributing infected condoms" and the like; to the massacres the government carried out against perceived dissidents that have left lingering fear against speaking freely; to the need for receptive listening when interviewing Zimbabweans due to cultural tendencies to speak in metaphorical terms. An absolute "must-read" for any health care or other professionals seeking to learn lessons from tragic failures of the past and better understand how to be effective in African nations in general and Zimbabwe in particular. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description

The Guide to Living with HIV Infection is the most complete source of medical, emotional, social, and practical advice available for those infected with HIV and their loved ones. Developed at the Johns Hopkins AIDS Clinic, the guide provides essential information for making decisions about treatment and testing in a world transformed by new research and pharmacotherapy.

In this thoroughly updated sixth edition, Dr. John Bartlett and Ann K. Finkbeiner address the latest information about risks of transmission, viral mutations that confer drug resistance, and new, rapid, HIV testing. They offer guidelines for Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART), a therapy protocol that has dramatically increased life expectancy for HIV-positive people. They describe how to follow HAART and when to change drug regimens, the symptoms of and treatments for HAART side effects, and the costs of and insurance coverage for HAART. They also outline the possibilities for a diagnosis of "no detectable virus."

Accompanied by updated references and resources, the sixth edition of The Guide to Living with HIV Infection offers new hope for people living with a virus that once left no hope at all.

Customer Reviews (5)

Highly recommended!
As a PWA (Person living with AIDS) and a professional that works in the private Social Services sector specializing in HIV/AIDS patient care, I highly recommend this book!

This book can function as both a personal and/or professional guide to the disease, the services and benefits that someone living with HIV/AIDS may qualify for, and a general overview of some of the drugs and treatment options.

This book is also a wonderful tool to give to friends and family should someone living with HIV/AIDS choose to disclose their Sero-status.

Highly recommended without any reservation!

Good, but dry.....
I agree with most of what the other reviewers are saying, but I found it a bit dry, and somewhat frightening if anyone reading it was just diagnosed with HIV; flipping through it can fill you with "doom and gloom".....

Excellent and thorough
An excellent guide which explains how HIV is transmitted, evaluates available treatment andprevention, provides counsel on coping with the emotional effects of the infection, and addresses financial and legal concerns. New to this revised and updatededition are detailed discussions of newdrugs, specialconsiderations for women, and recent data on CF4 cell counts and viralload.

Comprehensive. Everything you might & might not want to know
As someone only recently becoming interested in HIV this book covered alot of ground, including the medical course of the disease, the emotional effects on those with the infection and those caring for people with it andlegal matters. Designed more as a manual, where certain chapters can beskipped if not relative to a persons needs, it's structure still led easilyfrom one section to the next. Accounts from people living with the virusand their cargivers add a human touch which can be associated with byalmost anyone. A very good book for anyone coming in blind to the subject.Interesting, thought provoking and intellegent...

Essential reading for anyone infected with HIV
This up-to-date 1998 book is absolutely essential reading for anyone with HIV or AIDS.The book not only addresses the medical aspects of this virus, but alsosuch issues as understanding and communicating about HIV, how to deal with HIV's possible effects on the body, insuarance and HIV and guidance for making legal, financial and medical decisions.No book written prior to 1998 offers current enough information about this virus.For this year, this book can serve as a vital referenc manual for those with HIV or those who love someone with HIV. ... Read more

Product Description
As complexities of care increases, this book provides a wealth of emerging information, appropriate references and rational guidelines for care. The scope has been expanded to include more information relevant to AIDS care in the developing world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Very useful information for everyone
This book is targeted at those individuals diagnosed as HIV positive, but it is so much more than that.This is valuable information for friends, families, and loved ones to have to understand what a loved one is experiencing now or may experience in the future.It is well written by a physician in language that everyone can understand.It includes information that cover all areas of life--not just physical health, but mental health, relationships, sexual activity. I highly recommend this for professionals working in the health care field on any level.

news to an HIV Nurse
This book is an excellent review material for the nurse and the patient, some physicians could probably use it too!Written by a doctor for everyone! Great stuff for patient teaching in language the average person can understand. He uses words like Yucky and stuff to describe that yucky stuff! I am an HIV RN and I learned something new from it. I'm so pleased with it that I will be using it for my educational support with my clients! Covers everything! There are no wasted questions and every answer is cross referenced to other questions! WOW! I love it!

A GREAT READ and WAY TO LEARN
At last, a book about HIV that's tells me what I want to know, that's written by a gay guy, and that's fun to read and doesn't drag me down.I've been a regular user of Dr. G's web forum for years.It's nice to read him now, with his amusing and irreverent style, in book form (where he can concentrate on education rather than just placating or pissing off the crazies).If you've just found out you're positive, then this is the book you should read first. But I learned a lot, too, and I consider myself pretty educated on the subject.Everyone with HIV infection should read this book...and lots of other people should, too.

Important and Informative--by an expert
Dr. Gallant,an internationally renowned expert fromt Johns Hopkins, presents excellent and understandable answers to the most commonly asked questions about HIV-AIDS. A must read for anyone who is affected directly or indirectly by the disease! ... Read more

Product Description
The new edition of HIV and the Pathogenesis of AIDS provides a state-of-the-art review of the current research, explains the history of the disease, and examines how scientists, clinicians, and public health workers have responded to the challenges presented by HIV/AIDS in the 25 years since its recognition.Many exciting developments in the field have deepened scientific understanding of HIV/AIDS and have provided novel approaches for prevention and treatment.The book explores potential approaches for therapy and a vaccine for the prevention of HIV infection and AIDS is discussed.

Thoroughly updated and revised, the third edition continues to provide a comprehensive analysis of the subject that is unmatched in the field. Figures and tables illustrate and emphasize key points and the text is extensively annotated. Written in an accessible and clear style, the book presents a balanced view of HIV/AIDS and serves as a valuable reference for students, researchers, clinicians, and health care providers.

Praise for the second edition:
"It is the best single source for students committed to understanding the multiple facets of the HIV epidemic and is equally valuable for experienced investigators to confirm facts, test concepts, and with persistence gain new insights into old ideas."
- Journal of the American Medical Association

"Jay Levy has managed this academic A-Z...of AIDS pathogenesis with considerable aplomb, as befits a scientist who has been at the centre of AIDS research for over one and a half decades."
- The Lancet ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Absolute must have.
I just call it the Bible.

If you are moving into the filed of HIV research, or are doing a PhD in the field, this is the book.
It's certainly not an entertaining introduction for everybody. It's rather a review book about the complete pathogenesis of HIV, is close to cover every aspect at an incredible scientific depth, unmatched by 'textbooks'.
It further covers all cell types (T-Cells, NK cells, Monocytes, macrophages, DCs, BC and subsets - if it has been researched in HIV, it's in the book). Cytokines and interactions within the immune system and how HIV affects it.
Further, tables are used smartly to list key findings and summarize chapters.
And as opposed to most textbooks, it is fully referenced, so further reading and starting your own research is fairly easy (5000 citations to the key literature of the topics covered).

If you want to or have to get going with studies on HIV, this are 100 dollars spent that will save your life.

I only wish, a fourth edition is on the way, 3-4 years since the 3rd edition and a lot has happened since then.

Slightly disappointing
I was a little disappointed by the book. It is not on the level of most text books these days, which make reading scientific material a pleasure. This is usually achieved by many color figures, boxes with short explanations that summarize the central notion of concepts discussed in a chapter, and so on.
Furthermore, the writing was very "dry" and technical. The feeling I got was that each sentence was simply a summary of a published manuscript , with no additional insights or any attempt to "unify" all the vast amounts of information on HIV into something more whole.
I am now writing my Ph.D. thesis on HIV evolution. Unfortunately, I found that I prefer to read reviews on the subject rather than use the book as a guide.

HIV and the Pathogeneses of AIDS
Good book, great price.A bit longer to ship but it came as described condition.Thanks!

A must have
This book is the "bible" for understanding HIV/AIDS.It is a must have for students, researchers, doctors, and those who care for people with the disease.

HIV and the pathogenesis of AIDS
This is really excellent book about HIV. It is easy to understand but contains nearly all advanced recent topics including history, immunology and pathogenesis of HIV. Especially for the students who study HIV, this isthe best reference for general and specific knowledge. ... Read more

Product Description
HIV Essentials 2010 incorporates the latest clinical guidelines into a step-by-step guide to the diagnosis, evaluation, management and prevention of HIV infection and its complications.Topics include: HIV diagnosis, evaluation, treatment and prevention; Opportunistic infections and other HIV Complications; Treatment of HIV and pregnancy; Antiretroviral drug summaries; Post-exposure Prophylaxis; New section to each drug summary called "How Supplied" describes the commercially available dosage forms for all the ARV's ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Condensed information on HIkV
This is an update of an earlier version that I use.The information given is factual and accurate, particularly on medications available at the time of its editing. ... Read more

Product Description

Paralleling the discovery of HIV and the rise of the AIDS pandemic, a flock of naysayers has dedicated itself to replacing genuine knowledge with destructive misinformation—and spreading from the fringe to the mainstream media and the think tank. Now from the editor of the journal AIDS and Behavior comes a bold exposé of the scientific and sociopolitical forces involved in this toxic evasion. Denying AIDS traces the origins of AIDS dissidents disclaimers during the earliest days of the epidemic and delves into the psychology and politics of the current denial movement in its various incarnations.

Seth Kalichman focuses not on the “difficult” or doubting patient, but on organized, widespread forms of denial (including the idea that HIV itself is a myth and HIV treatments are poison) and the junk science, faulty logic, conspiracy theories, and larger forces of homophobia and racism that fuel them. The malignant results of AIDS denial can be seen in those individuals who refuse to be tested, ignore their diagnoses, or reject the treatments that could save their lives. Instead of ignoring these currents, asserts Kalichman, science has a duty to counter them.

Among the topics covered:

• Why AIDS denialism endures, and why science must understand it.
• Pioneer virus HIV researcher Peter Duesberg’s role in AIDS denialism.
• Flawed immunological, virological, and pharmacological pseudoscience studies that are central to texts of denialism.
• The social conservative agenda and the politics of AIDS denial, from the courts to the White House.
• The impact of HIV misinformation on public health in South Africa.
• Fighting fiction with reality: anti-denialism and the scientific community.

For anyone affected by, interested in, or working with researchers in HIV/AIDS, and public health professionals in general, the insight and vision of Denying AIDS will inspire outrage, discussion, and ultimately action.

See http://denyingaids.blogspot.com/ for more information.

Customer Reviews (12)

A good summary of one of the world's most damaging denialist movements
While I had known about HIV/AIDS denialists for quite a while, I wasunaware just how widespread and ghastly denial of HIV/AIDS is. This book gives a fairly concise history of how denialism came to be -- the history of HIV/AIDS research, a rundown of denialist arguments, and the major denialist players; an unlikely marriage of homophobes and people in literal denial of their own HIV status, containing precious few scientists, no clinical AIDS researchers, and a good number of frauds selling vitamins and CAM remedies. To get an idea of how bad the problem really is, even outside of Africa, see the data from a fairly recent CDC research project published in JAIDS:

"Our data provide some insight into issues that could have an impact on the effectiveness of HIV prevention in minority MSM populations. The belief that HIV does not cause AIDS was more likely in all 3 minority groups (48% to 54%) than in whites (27%) and was common among HIV-positive persons."

Those numbers are disastrous. And unlike holocaust denial, climate change denial and 9/11 "truthers", these people are actually contributing to the deaths of HIV-infected people with their reckless promotion of pseudoscience. Previously, I had thought vaccine denial was about as bad as it could get.

In summary: Not perfect, but well worth a read, largely well constructed, and sheds light on a fairly unknown, yet crucial topic.

The one problem I do have is that the proofreading of this book is utterly atrocious. I counted well over 40 grammatical, spelling and typographical errors, in what is a fairly small book; nearly 10 in the introduction alone. This makes the book a lot less readable and damages its credibility somewhat. I would have expected better from Springer.

The Spurious Exposed
Seth Kalichman tackles a subject that should have far more public awareness. He exposes the dangerous and misguided people who deny that HIV causes AIDS or assert that the drugs used to treat the associated illnesses actually exacerbate them. These people include scientists, both real and spurious, journalists, and AIDS sufferers who have bought into the idea that anti-retroviral medicines harm rather than help and who try to cure their illness with vitamins and the like.

Kalichman opens with a telling observation about the links between AIDS denialists and groups that deny evolution, the Holocaust, global warming and so forth. What these people have in common, of course, is that they do not base their conclusions in fact. Instead, they cherry-pick information from legitimate resources, or they use old research. Then they launch personal attacks on anyone who draws attention to the deficiencies in their arguments. Kalichman has of course exposed himself to these attacks as one look at his blog demonstrates.

Since explaining irrationality is an impossible task, he cannot, as I'd hoped, reveal how Nobel laureate Peter Duesberg came to reject his own findings, nor can he explain how an obviously brilliant scientist has decided that HIV does not cause AIDS. The entire issue was outside Duesberg's area of expertise, so it is even more of a wonder that he became involved.Based Kalichman's profile of the man, I suspect Duesberg had a breakdown of some sort, which would also explain why he thinks the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health are out to get him. He may have also come up against an evolving social scene in Berkeley. It is amazing that in 2010 someone can still refer to black people as "schwartzes" and gay men as "homos."

If Duesberg is the brains of the denialist movement then the former South African president Thabo Mbeki is the brawn on whose head rests the greatest number of deaths. Untold numbers have died and hundreds of thousands of family members have suffered because of his refusal to allow anti-retroviral drugs into the country during his regime. The most chilling aspect of his position involved the deaths of infants who could probably have survived if their HIV-positive mothers had received medication.

At about page 45 I put the book down for a minute and thought, why am I reading this book? Why did Seth Kalichman have to write it? Of course the answer to the latter question lies within the pages. And I kept reading because I think it is the obligation of every thoughtful person to educate herself on a subject that has caused so much death and devastation. It is beyond tragic that people dying of AIDS are being so misled.

Denying AIDS makes a valuable contribution, but I do have a few quibbles. Kalichman objects to the presentation of denialist views in publications such as Harper's Magazine and The Sunday Times of London. These publications print stories about the Loch Ness monster and Big Foot, too. It's not the fact of the publication that's objectionable; rather it's how the claims are presented. Unfiltered acceptance of spurious claims degrades the quality of the publication. Kalichman makes the valid point that "serious" newspapers and magazines should not offer these narratives without challenge. The cynical side of me says no one reads those periodicals any more, so what difference does it make?

My biggest problem with the book was the daunting scientific terminology. Kalichman generally does an expert job of writing for the non-scientist, but his refutations of denialism result in such sentences as these: "... antibody tests can produce false positive results when the antibodies cross-react with antibodies to some other antigen." [p. 63] And I never did understand Aneuploidy. I made note after note saying this doesn't make sense.

But in the end the comments had nothing to do with the author or his writing. He was climbing the Mount Everest of disinformation. He summited where the rest of us would have gone blind on the ascent and stopped at base camp or quit long before.

Thoughtful, well-argued book
Seth Kalichman has written an excellent, well-reasoned, well-argued book in which he systematically dismantles the arguments of the conspiracy theorists who deny AIDS or deny that HIV causes AIDS. Unfortunately, as the author points out (and as some of the negative reviews reflect) once people have staked out extreme denialist territory, they become completely unresponsive to logic or information that counters their beliefs. As a result this book will not have any effect on the hard-core denialists, but it may prove helpful to those who may otherwise be inclined to listen to denialists.

Even a trained psychologist is baffled.
Dr. Kalichman has done a remarkable job of attempting to understand the phenomenon of AIDS denial.We all understand why it is human nature to wish away bad things.It is completely expected for someone facing a serious problem, whether it is cancer, bankruptcy, or divorce, to go through a phase of denial.The more difficult factor to understand is what drives men, such as Peter Duesberg and Henry Bauer, who have no direct connection to HIV or AIDS, to make false claims, such as AIDS being caused by "the gay lifestyle", or malnutrition.In the end, Dr. Kalichman has no good answer for that, but he did a monumental job of attempting to find the answers.

The AIDS skeptics have it correct
Kalichman went to a lot of trouble and sleuthing to establish something that should be quite obvious to everyone - that a huge, media-savvy, dollar-squandering machine like the AIDS orthodoxy absolutely, positively cannot stand public scrutiny. Instead, it fires off round after round of demonizing, slanderous and lurid claims about its critics.

One wonders what the AIDS establishment like Kalichman is so afraid of? The answer is fairly obvious - a gigantic, global theatrical apparatus has been created over the past 25 years replete with slogans, endless conferences, songs, symbols, candlelight vigils, quilts, jingles, research centers, drug company dollars and armies of misguided volunteers. This enterprise is as huge as it is unstable and it certainly cannot bear to be questioned or criticized. What would all those people do?

There never has been and never will be an "AIDS" epidemic among American heterosexuals. The books by the AIDS skeptics and HIV critics make that abundantly clear.

By all means read this laughably misguided book by Kalichman, but then read the books by Rebecca Culshaw, Henry Bauer, Neville Hodgkinson, Celia Farber and Michelle Cochrane to see clearly why the AIDS orthodoxy has so much to hide and even more to be ashamed of. ... Read more

Product Description
HIV/AIDS reverses life expectancy gains, erodes productivity, consumes savings and dilutes growth efforts, threatening the realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Africa.The report is the result of an extensive analytical and consultative process begun in 2006, that engaged more than 1,000 people from over 30 countries and many institutions mostly in Africa, as well as UN agencies, multilateral and bilateral donors, and foundations. The report reaffirms the Bank's commitment to combating HIV/AIDS in Africa, moving from its initial emergency response to the next phase, including the goal to provide at least US $250 million annually and to create an Africa HIV/AIDS Incentive Fund to enhance the evidence base, promote the multisectoral response and provide technical support, analysis and policy advice to countries. ... Read more

Product Description
Praise for Handbook of HIV and Social Work

"Cynthia Cannon Poindexter has given us a remarkable edited volume that contains much information on HIV that every professional social worker needs to know in order to practice competently in today's complex world."—From the Foreword by Vincent J. Lynch, MSW, PhD, Boston College Graduate School of Social Work

"This comprehensive handbook assembles a group of social work scholars and practitioners to participate in, guide, and address many of the unresolved challenges characterizing the HIV debates. This handbook is a valuable and timely addition to the literature."—King Davis, MSW, PhD, The Robert Lee Sutherland Chair in Mental Health and Social Policy, The University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work

"This handbook is an outstanding resource for the social work professional working to ensure equal access to care, treatment, and resources for all persons living with and/or affected by HIV."—Evelyn P. Tomaszewski, MSW, Project Director, NASW HIV/AIDS Spectrum: Mental Health Training and Education of Social Workers Project

"This book is an excellent, up-to-date guide on HIV. It is an indispensable resource for all those who work with HIV and all its complications."—Leon Ginsberg, MSW, PhD, Dean Emeritus, University of South Carolina School of Social Work and Editor, Administration in Social Work

The most current knowledge on the HIV pandemic in a thorough, diverse, and accessible volume

This invaluable book draws on a distinguished roster of HIV advocates, educators, case managers, counselors, and administrators, assembling the most current knowledge into this volume. Handbook of HIV and Social Work reflects the latest research and its impact on policy and practice realities, with topics including:

• History, Illness, Transmission, and Treatment

• Social Work Roles, Tasks, and Challenges in Health Care Settings

• HIV-related Community Organizing and Grassroots Advocacy

• The Impact of HIV on Children and Adolescents

• HIV-affected Caregivers

Product Description
Get a detailed overview of the social services provided for HIV-infected midlife and older adults, and find out where social work practice with this growing population is headed!

As more potent medications are being developed to treat HIV, people who have contracted the virus are living longer lives than previously expected. Survival means new side effects and increasingly complex issues, now compounded by the diseases of aging. All this presents unprecedented challenges to social service and benefit systems. Midlife and Older Adults and HIV: Implications for Social Service Research, Practice and Policy introduces policymakers and policy analysts, practitioners in the helping professions, and the public to available social services for aging adults who are living with HIV/AIDS. It also addresses midlife and older adults at risk of HIV infection as well as aging persons whose lives are affected by relatives and friends living with HIV.

Midlife and Older Adults and HIV provides a comprehensive examination of this emerging field of practice. Specific chapters examine prevention, family care, vulnerability, inclusion, and the disease process itself. It lays out the broad terrain of future social work practice with HIV-infected elders and elders affected by HIV. The book concludes with reflections on survivorship during the past two decades from six older community leaders living with HIV/AIDS. It also provides current research findings, innovative conceptual models, an invaluable compendium of resource information from the National Association of HIV Over Fifty, and program ideas to address the HIV epidemic within the aging population.

The issues addressed in Midlife and Older Adults and HIV include:

• HIV prevention initiatives
  
• coordination and integration of local service networks
  
• the health, social, and financial risks facing women with HIV
  
• the health consequences of HIV/AIDS and its interactions with normal aging
  
• the use of behavioral reinforcement methods as interventions
  
• perceptions of vulnerability to HIV among older African-American women and the role of intimate partners
  
• and much more!

Product Description
Based on the current care guidelines from the CDC and elsewhere, this book addresses the current emphasis on managing the side effects of HIV/AIDS such as lypodystrophy, redistribution of body fat, cardiac risks, and vulnerability to other ailments. Combining the latest medical advice with the ideas of hundreds of people living with HIV/AIDS, the book is particularly helpful for friends, family members, and others who make up the support network for anyone struggling with HIV/AIDS. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

LIVE well?They should rethink the title for this book
Most of the info in this book is gloom and doom.It mostly details what you could DIE of.Although there is no cure, most of the fatal OIs in this book are pretty much a thing of the past.Avoid this book. ... Read more

Product Description
HIV/AIDS is without doubt the worst epidemic to hit humankind since the Black Death.As of 2004 an estimated 40 million people were living with the disease, and about 20 million had died.Despite rapid scientific advances there is still no cure and the drugs are expensive and toxic. In the developing world, especially in parts of Africa, life expectancy has plummeted to below 35 years, causing a serious decline in economic growth, a sharp increase in orphans, and the imminent collapse of health care systems. The news is not all bleak though. There have been unprecedented breakthroughs in understanding diseases and developing drugs. Because the disease is so closely linked to sexual activity and drug use, the need to understand and change behavior has caused us to reassess what it means to be human and how we should operate in the globalizing world. This Very Short Introduction tackles the science, the international and local politics, the fascinating demographics, and the devastating consequences of the disease, and suggests how we must respond. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A useful short introduction to the AIDS epidemic
HIV virus is probably the most dreaded virus in modern times, and the disease that it causes - AIDS - has come to symbolize the latter-day plague. Despite the monumental attempts at finding a cure for AIDS or at least an HIV vaccine, this disease remains almost as intractable as when it first came to wide attention in the early 1980s. In the West AIDS remains the disease that is associated with socially marginalized groups, while globally its greatest impact is on poor countries, with the sub-Saharan Africa carrying the disproportionate number of victims. In the light of all of that all of us would be amiss if we did not get a better understanding of this dreadful disease. "HIV/AIDS - A Very Short Introduction" is a good book to learn the important facts about HIV/AIDS from.

The book is filled with a lot of statistical data and many charts. It provides an astute assessment of the prevalence and the spread of AIDS throughout the world. It deals with various social, political and economic aspects of AIDS and the author covers these topics in great detail. This is a particularly good book to read if you are interested in the public policy aspects of the AIDS epidemic.

Knowing how important a book like this is for educating public about the most important facts about AIDS, it would seem uncharitable to point out its flaws. Nonetheless, here are a few issues that I had with the book and points that I think could be improved.

* The book could have used some more editing. There are quite a few awkward sentences, and many others that are rather banal.
* The book does not spend too much time on pointing out the precautions and measures that are practical and effective at preventing AIDS at the level of an individual. Obviously we can infer that being a member of any of the higher-risk groups should be avoided, but this is nowhere really spelled out not even commented upon. This might due to the fact that this book is more aimed at describing AIDS as a phenomenon, rather than influencing individual behavior, but on the other hand the author is quick to pass judgment on governments and other groups for their approach to the problem of AIDS.
* The author shows clear bias in favor of some AIDS-prevention programs and measures and in opposition to others, but at no point in this book are we given any justification (quantitative or otherwise) for this particular set of attitudes. Many of these attitudes expressed by the author have been promoted extensively in the media, and most of them do make sense, but it would have been useful in a book like this one to be more precise and give a justification for those attitudes that goes beyond what some interest group may be advocating.
* My background is in natural science, and I would have liked if more room had been given to the scientific description of the HIV virus itself - its shape, form, what makes it so virulent, and why have all attempts at creating a successful vaccine failed so far. Even in a very short introduction aimed at the general audience more scientific information would have been useful.
* The book oftentimes swerves outside of the core topic of AIDS, often offering opinions on topics such as climate change, sustainability, sexuality, big-government programs, etc. In some of these cases there is some tangential relationship to AIDS, but more often than not one gets an impression that these are just some of the author's pet concerns and he was unable to resist the urge to put them in.
Despite its many shortcomings, this is still a very informative and important book and a useful first resource in understanding of the global AIDS epidemic. ... Read more

Product Description
Published in association with the AIDS Health Project of the University of California, San Francisco. Highlights medical and psychological issues and presents strategies for counseling the HIV-infected population. Softcover. DNLM: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome--therapy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent and helpful
This book is excellent. It has helped me learn and apply techniques about how to work with people who have HIV. There are numerous clinical examples and suggestions on how to counsel many different groups of people. ... Read more

Product Description
Everything you need to know about dealing with HIV/AIDS in one concise volume

Product Description
Complemented by statistics and facts about the epidemic of AIDS, a series of interviews and follow-up interviews with women infected with HIV reveals the impact of the disease on their lives, exploring their feelings of blame, regret, and fear. Original." ... Read more

Product Description

Despite global progress in understanding the epidemiology of thehuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV), knowledge about the epidemic in theMiddle East and North Africa (MENA) remains limited and subject to muchcontroversy. In the more than 25 years since the discovery of HIV, noscientific study has provided a comprehensive, data-driven synthesis ofthe spread of HIV/AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) in theregion. Consequently, the effectiveness of policies, programs, andresources intended to address the spread of HIV/AIDS has beencompromised.

This report aims to fill the knowledge gap by providing thefirst-ever comprehensive scientific assessment and data-drivenepidemiological synthesis of HIV's spread in MENA. It is based on aliterature review and analysis of thousands of largely unrecognizedpublications, reports, and data sources extracted from scientificliterature or collected from sources at the local, national, andregional levels. The resulting collection of data provides a solidfoundation on which efforts to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS can bebased.

Characterizing the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the Middle East and NorthAfrica will be of particular interest to policy makers,researchers, development practitioners, and specialists in publichealth and epidemiology.

Customer Reviews (1)

Best book on HIV/AIDS in MENA
This is a great comprehensive scientific review of HIV/AIDS in the Middle East North Africa Region.All you need to know about HIV/AIDS in the MENA Region is in this book.A must read for anyone who is interested in working on HIV/AIDS in MENA. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (2)

A rare focus on the social and economic context
This is the only book-length exploration of the social and economic context of the the HIV/AIDS epidemics. What comes through is that the authors are not journalists who dashed off a book on AIDS, but longtime researchers, with world-ranging experience.

WHile well documented, it is readable. The next college level course I teach on contemporary issues will surely include this as required reading. My students will thank me for it.

The best comprehensive treatment of HIV/AIDS
Tony Barnett and Alan Whieside have done a fantastic job of placing the issue of HIV/AIDS within a comprehensive context.It is easy to read, well researched, thoughtful in it's analysis, and comprehensive - that is, it places the pandemic amidst the global forces that are affecting it and which must be understood if we're to successfully turn the tide.I am recommending it to many of my colleagues!It is the best book I have read to-date on the most challenging crisis facing the human family. ... Read more

Book Description