AIDS Between Science and Politics
ISBN: 9780231538770
Platform/Publisher: PQ ebrary / Perseus Distribution
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Limited; Download: 7 Days at a time
Subjects: AIDS (Disease) : Prevention.;

AIDS is still on the rise in many populations-including some with access to antiretroviral cocktails. To do away with AIDS, a strategic mix of political, economic, medical, cultural, and international and local anti-AIDS policies and projects is urgently needed, says Piot (No Time to Lose), director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and former Under Secretary General of the United Nations. He notes that while "spectacular" gains have been made in access to antiretroviral treatment, in 2012, 1.6 million people worldwide died of HIV, and "a majority of the over 35 million people living with HIV are now in need of antiretroviral treatment." Astonishingly, without a technological breakthrough, "the financial liability of lifelong antiretroviral treatment for millions of people" may end up "costing the equivalent of up to three times the annual GDP of countries such as Uganda and Swaziland." Furthermore, ultimate resistance to antiretrovirals is "unavoidable," so there is no "silver bullet for HIV prevention." He says that at-risk populations should be blasted with information on condoms, circumcision, pre-exposure prophylaxis, clean needles, and alcohol abuse; an accessible cure must also be vigorously pursued. This sobering book is a must-read for anyone in the field of AIDS and HIV prevention. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Peter Piot is the director of the renowned London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a professor of global health. He is a former Under Secretary General of the United Nations, the founding executive director of UNAIDS, and co-discoverer of the Ebola virus, and former president of the International AIDS Society. He has published more than 500 scientific papers and articles and sixteen books, including his memoirs, No Time To Lose: A Life in Pursuit of Deadly Viruses .

Laurence Garey is an anatomist, former member the Court of Examiners, Royal College of Surgeons of England, and the Council of the Anatomical Society. He has translated works from French and German, including Jean-Didier Vincent and Pierre-Marie Lledo's The Custom-Made Brain: Cerebral Plasticity, Regeneration, and Enhancement . He is an associate collaborator with the Institute of the History of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.

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