Helen Epstein (2) (1961–)
Auteur van The Invisible Cure: Africa, the West, and the Fight Against AIDS
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Everything I wanted to know about HIV/AIDS and how it functions in Uganda. Written in a way that anyone can understand the complexities of this disease.
An interesting book about how Westerners naively or negligently misunderstood how HIV spread in Africa, spending huge amounts of money on relatively ineffective responses. I found particularly interesting how different African nations responded to the AIDS epidemic and the different consequences. Some of the later chapters read more like standalone essays, rather than part of a cohesive whole, but all of the book was interesting.
One of the better AIDS books. Very well written and really quite engaging. Struggles, though, between the desire to follow the science and the need not to be TOO politically incorrect. Ultimately, Epstein believes that the behaviours that spread AIDS in Africa will only change when communities organise to foster that change. I think she perhaps understates the influence that political leadership can have over communities.
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Misschien vindt je deze ook leuk
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Epstein's focus is on infrastructure misunderstandings about African HIV transmission and faulty prevention and intervention strategies based on incorrect assumptions. She updates the reader on relatively new theories of HIV's origins and early spread (including a very clear explanation of how passaging strengthens a virus). She answers the important questions that were not addressed in Togarasei et al.'s [b:The Faith Sector and HIV/AIDS in Botswana: Responses and Challenges|12210327|The Faith Sector and HIV/AIDS in Botswana Responses and Challenges|Lovemore Togarasei|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327958008s/12210327.jpg|17183292], which are What did sexual partnerships look like prior to the arrival of Christianity, and does that affect HIV transmission patterns? Her answers are that in many of the areas currently hardest hit by HIV, polygamy/polyandry was socially acceptable, and that concurrent long-term partnerships may spread HIV more effectively than serial monogamy. If that's hard to picture, she's included a flip book. Really. It's the only scientific treatise I've ever seen with a flip book, and it's quite effective.
The last couple of chapters are less-well integrated and read more like articles. The last chapter ends abruptly and disappointingly. I would have liked at least a summary of the book's main recommendations.… (meer)