AEGiS-BKREV: AIDS in the Industrialized Democracies: Passions, Politics, and Policies

AIDS in the Industrialized Democracies: Passions, Politics, and Policies

Rutgers University Press, 109 Church St., New Brunswick, NJ 08901. 393p., bibliog., index. ISBN 0-8135-1821-0, 0-8135-1822-9pbk. $45.00, $16.00pbk. (Contributors to this volume: Erik Albaek, Aarhus Univ.; John Ballard, Australian National Univ.; Ronald Bayer, Columbia Univ. School of Public Health; Eric A. Feldman, Univ. of Tokyo Institute of Social Science; Guenter Frankenberg, Fachhochschule in Frankfurt am Main; Benny Henriksson, Swedish Institute for Social Policy; David L. Kirp, Univ. of California at Berkeley; Evert A. Lindquist, Univ. of Toronto; Jonathan M. Mann, Harvard School of Public Health; Jesus M. de Miguel, Univ. of Barcelona; David M. Rayside, Univ. of Toronto; Monika Steffen, National Center of Scientific Research in Grenoble; John Street, Univ. of East Anglia; Albert Weale, Univ. of East Anglia; Jan K. van Wijngaarden, Ministry of Welfare, Health, and Cultural Affairs of the Netherlands; Shohei Yonemoto, Mitsubishi Kasei Institute of Life Science; Hasse Ytterberg, Judge in the district court of Boras)
Edited by David L. Kirp, Ronald Bayer. 1992.

"How the industrialized countries reacted to the epidemic, how it was conceptualized, and how different societal elements--governmental and nongovernmental--responded, are of central importance both for understanding the future directions of AIDS policy and for learning lessons of enormous practical value for the next pandemic." The first chapter, "An Epidemic in Political and Policy Perspective," lays the foundation for this interesting book that shows how the governments of the United States, Canada, Germany, Australia, Spain, Britain, France, The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and Japan have responded to the AIDS crisis, each dependent on their political culture. Each chapter covers a particular country, describing its policies and in doing so "lays bare the social, cultural, and political character of entire societies." Together, the chapters illustrate that there are networks of international and transnational agencies that are creating a need for sharing, communication, and solidarity. It also shows that there can be tension between the countries. The final line, however, is that "a global epidemic of infectious disease helps us not only to explore health and science, but also to appreciate further the forces that are shaping the modern world. The community, national, and international response to the AIDS pandemic mirrors and helps to shape the global future."

The titles of the chapters for each of the countries indicates the political thought of that country and the problems that it has created. The chapter on the United States, "At the Center of the Storm," presents such issues as testing, safer sex campaigns, education, contact tracing, and discrimination. These politically explosive topics have shaped the U.S. policies and have also provided much fuel for the activists. Each of the other countries is described as follows: Canada--"Community Activism, Federalism, and the New Politics of Disease," Germany--"The Uneasy Triumph of Pragmatism," Australia--"Participation and Innovation in a Federal System," Spain--"An Epidemic of Denial," Britain--"Policy-Making in a Hermetically Sealed System," France--"Social Solidarity and Scientific Expertise," The Netherlands--"AIDS in a Consensual Society," Denmark--"AIDS and the Political Pink Triangle," Sweden--"The Power of the Moral(istic) Left," and Japan--"AIDS as a Non-issue." These are fascinating chapters to read, providing the reader with new insights on each of the governments, some of which is both frightening and unbelievable.

The last chapter, "The Second Decade of AIDS: The End of Exceptionalism?," sums up all that was presented. It is not surprising that much of what is done worldwide was first done in the United States. On the other hand, the U.S. showed other countries what not to do. For one, the U.S. does not guarantee universal access to health care and the welfare system in the U.S. leaves many unhelped. The key to AIDS policy can be summed up with five frameworks: "create a regime of legal rights; rely on professional expertise; utilize bureaucratic norms of consistency and internal accountability; let the political system settle matters, producing either ideological clashes or the give-and-take of interested parties; or leave matters to the market, subject to varying degrees of regulation."

This is a unique book that should be read by all political leaders. It lays the foundation for policy and points out the many shortcomings that are present in the various industrialized countries, including the United States. It is well-written and easy to read with a great deal of statistics. The contributors have done an excellent job of presenting the facts in a manner that one can easily compare between countries on to how policies differ. This is a recommended book for those doing research on international policies and as such should be in all large public libraries and all academic libraries. (H. Robert Malinowsky)

Keywords: Government Policy, North America, Europe, Japan, Australia

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Copyright © 1993 - The University of Illinois at Chicago. All materials in the journal are subject to copyright by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois and may be reprinted or redistributed for the noncommercial purpose of scientific or educational advancement granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976. For other reprinting, redistribution, or translation, address requests to H. Robert Malinowsky, University of Illinois at Chicago Library, PO Box 8198, Chicago, IL 60680 or electronically to hrm@uic.edu.

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