Facing up to AIDS is a novel and incisive study of a global plague which continues to threaten to engulf South Africa at this crucial moment in its history. Economists, demographers and health planners present a range of new methods of understanding the likely course of the disease, drawn from the most recent research and thinking by social scientists on the relationship between epidemic disease, economic growth and human resources. South Africa presents a unique opportunity for understanding AIDS, combining as it does Third World problems with a sophisticated infrastructure: the models of demographic projection and economic linkages which are explored here will be of major relevance for examining the socio-economic impact of AIDS in a range of countries in Asia and Latin America. Until medical science comes up with a miracle vaccine, the modification of behaviour is the only defence, and the essays in this volume make a powerful case for putting further resources into the research needed to bring this about.

This volume brings together a collection of essays from researchers engaged in, or concerned with, the politics of global health. It addresses the power relations which drive global health strategies, frustrate the possibility of effective engagement and operate to relegate billions of people to a vulnerable and bleak future. From a broad engagement with the global health system, the volume focuses on arguably the most pressing public health issue of modern times - the effective global governance of HIV/AIDS. The underlying objective is to help generate a timely debate and understanding of the impact of globalization on health and the plight of the vulnerable.

The political impact of HIV/AIDS varies greatly and is difficult to map. States depend on how governments choose to manage the political implications of HIV and AIDS, both those stemming from the erosions of its own capacity as well as those that originate from their changing relationship on a national and international level. Across the developing world, HIV/AIDS is slowly killing adults in their most productive years, hollowing out state structures, deepening poverty and raising profound questions that touch on the organization of all aspects of social, economic and political life. With the epidemic showing scant signs of slowing down, this innovative volume assesses how HIV/AIDS affects governance and, conversely, how governance affects the course of the epidemic. In particular, the volume:

The political impact of HIV/AIDS varies greatly and is difficult to map. States depend on how governments choose to manage the political implications of HIV and AIDS, both the implications stemming from the erosions of its own capacity, as well as those stemming from their changing relationship both nationally as well as internationally. Across the developing world, HIV/AIDS is slowly killing adults in their most productive years, hollowing out state-structures, deepening poverty, reversing achievements in education, lowering productivity, weakening intergenerational formation, and changing the composition of families. Clearly, in terms of its trajectory and impact, the epidemic raises profound questions that touch on the organization of all aspects of social, economic and political life. With the epidemic showing scant signs of slowing down anywhere in the developing world, this volume assesses how HIV/AIDS affects governance, and conversely how governance affects the course of the epidemic. This title employs a compelling analytical and polemic framework for mapping the multiple dynamic mechanisms of governance and HIV/AIDS.It brings together contributions from renowned international scholars from a variety of disciplines. It is an innovative text drawing on comprehensive as well as detailed perspectives on the roles of actors, institutions and structures. It offers an incisive study of a global plague which threatens existing social, economic and human interrelations. The specific dynamics and mechanisms for how HIV/AIDS impacts on actors, institutions or frameworks, as well as how their responses and changes affect the epidemic, require the careful judgment and analysis of the contributors. The authors offer their informed views on factors that have been conducive as well as constraining in actors to respond, which allows for a comprehensive picture of the 'politics of reform' as well as 'effective practices'.

First published in 2002, "AIDS in the Twenty-First Century" met with widespread praise from researchers and policy makers. This edition is fully revised to take account of the latest facts and developments in the field. All statistics and evidence have been updated and their meanings reconsidered. Latest developments in vaccines, anti-retroviral treatments and microbicides are discussed along with information about the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

This volume brings together a collection of essays from researchers engaged in, or concerned with, the politics of global health. It addresses the power relations which drive global health strategies, frustrate the possibility of effective engagement and operate to relegate billions of people to a vulnerable and bleak future. From a broad engagement with the global health system, the volume focuses on arguably the most pressing public health issue of modern times - the effective global governance of HIV/AIDS. The underlying objective is to help generate a timely debate and understanding of the impact of globalization on health and the plight of the vulnerable.

Facing up to AIDS is a novel and incisive study of a global plague which continues to threaten to engulf South Africa at this crucial moment in its history. Economists, demographers and health planners present a range of new methods of understanding the likely course of the disease, drawn from the most recent research and thinking by social scientists on the relationship between epidemic disease, economic growth and human resources. South Africa presents a unique opportunity for understanding AIDS, combining as it does Third World problems with a sophisticated infrastructure: the models of demographic projection and economic linkages which are explored here will be of major relevance for examining the socio-economic impact of AIDS in a range of countries in Asia and Latin America. Until medical science comes up with a miracle vaccine, the modification of behaviour is the only defence, and the essays in this volume make a powerful case for putting further resources into the research needed to bring this about.

Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is a therapeutic intervention developed by clinicians and researchers in order to fight the HIV pandemic. It has contributed to a significant reduction in AIDS-related mortality and allowed many previously bed-ridden patients to live healthier, more productive lives. Until the advent of HAART in 1996, a diagnosis of HIV infection was considered a death sentence. A decade later, the disease has been transformed into a serious, yet potentially manageable, medical condition for thousands of people living with HIV/AIDS in the developed world - almost overnight creating a generation of "HIV Survivors" - and forged a global movement to ensure that its Lazarus-like benefit reaches millions more in the developing world.
This book reviews the achievements of HAART over the past decade, and explores the challenges that may arise in the future. It recounts key landmarks in the development and introduction of HAART from the perspective of clinicians, researchers, economists, sociologists, and public policy experts, including the co-discoverers of HIV, Luc Montagnier and Robert Gallo. It explores the evolution of the disease, the evolution of HIV treatment, and the economic, social, and public policy impacts of both HIV and the introduction of HAART.

In 2008 it was believed that HIV/AIDS was without doubt the worst epidemic to hit humankind since the Black Death. The first case was identified in 1981; by 2004 it was estimated that about 40 million people were living with the disease, and about 20 million had died. Yet the outlook today is a little brighter. Although HIV/ AIDS continues to be a pressing public health issue the epidemic has stabilised globally, and it has become evident it is not, nor will it be, a global issue. The worst affected regions are southern and eastern Africa. Elsewhere, HIV is found in specific, usually, marginalised populations, for example intravenous drug users in Russia. Although there still remains no cure for HIV, there have been unprecedented breakthroughs in understanding the disease and developing drugs. Access to treatment over the last ten years has turned AIDS into a chronic disease, although it is still a challenge to make antiviral treatment available to all that require it. We also have new evidence that treatment greatly reduces infectivity, and this has led to the movement of 'Treatment as Prevention'. In this Very Short Introduction Alan Whiteside provides an introduction to AIDS, tackling the science, the international and local politics, the demographics, and the devastating consequences of the disease. He looks at the problems a developing international 'AIDS fatigue' poses to funding for sufferers, but also shows how domestic resources are increasingly being mobilised, despite the stabilisation of international funding. Finally Whiteside considers how the need to understand and change our behaviour has caused us to reassess what it means to be human and how we should operate in the globalizing world. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.