AIDS in the Twenty-First Century: Disease and Globalization

AIDS in the Twenty-First Century: Disease and Globalization

Palgrave Macmillan, 175 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10010. 416p., illus., bibliog., index. ISBN 1-4039-0005-1. $45.00.
Tony Barnett, Alan Whiteside. 2002.

This is a book that is intended to open the eyes of everyone who is skeptical about the impact of AIDS on the world's population. It touches on the social and economic origins of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and how it has affected communities, businesses, and governments throughout the world. It hammers away at the hard facts that "the HIV/AIDS epidemic represents a global crisis in public health, one that leaves children without parents, communities without leaders, and businesses without an adequate labor supply."

The grim facts of AIDS/HIV are shown in the introduction with the following highlighted statement: "In 2001, approximately 36 million individuals were living with HIV/AIDS. Assuming that each HIV/AIDS case directly influences the lives of four other individuals, a total of more than 150 million people are being affected by the diseaseMost, if not all, of the 25 million people in sub-Saharan Africa who are living with HIV/AIDS will have died by the year 2020, in addition to the 13.7 million Africans already claimed by the epidemic. HIV/AIDS is also spreading dramatically in Asia. India leads the region in absolute numbers of HIV infections, estimated at 3-5 million. China, too, has a growing HIV/AIDS problem, with approximately 0.5 million AIDS cases and, according to private estimates by Chinese specialists, up to 10 million HIV infections. Asia will overtake sub-Saharan Africa in absolute numbers before 2010; by 2020 Asia will be the HIV/AIDS epicenter."

This is an outstandingly written book with a wealth of information that makes it priority reading for policy makers, students, and anyone who is concerned about or studying the relationship between poverty, inequality, and infectious diseases. A highly recommended book for all libraries.

Keywords: Political Aspects; Social Aspects; Epidemiology; Globalization
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