AIDS and Men: Taking Risks or Taking Responsibility? [Paperback]

Martin Foreman (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 187067040X | ISBN-13: 978-1870670401 | Publication Date: February 15, 1999 | Edition: First Edition

Men undoubtedly take risks in relation to HIV. Whether or not they should also take responsibility for transmission of the virus, and how they can do so, are questions that cannot be easily resolved. The first section of this book examines the relationship between men's actions and AIDS worldwide, the impact of those actions on men and women, and initiatives designed to help men protect themselves and their partners. The second section, written by journalists from eleven countries in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe, illustrates many different aspects of that relationship--from machismo in Mexico to drug injection in Russia, from men in prison in Brazil to men living with HIV in Thailand, from men as fathers in the Ivory Coast to men who have sex with men in Kenya.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Martin Foreman is Director of the Panos AIDS Program.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Zed Books; First Edition edition (February 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 187067040X
• ISBN-13: 978-1870670401
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,584,309 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Touching on the sensitive issue, May 25, 1999

By 

Miguel A. Aragon Lopez "MiguelAragon" (Guatemala) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: AIDS and Men: Taking Risks or Taking Responsibility? (Hardcover)

A reader from Mozambique. AIDS and MEN: Taking risk or Taking responsibility?

This book touches on a sensitive issue. Although the argument of men driving the HIV epidemic is not new, it has not been realised by many sectors of society. Firstly, the book points out the role of men in the spread of HIV. Men are labelled as key actors in the dynamic transmission of the disease. Men have greater opportunity of sexual contact, drug and alcohol use and take advantage over women by determining when a condom will be used. This behaviour of men subjects women to greater risk of acquiring HIV. Secondly and closely related to the former, is that HIV/AIDS in women is not merely a biological fact of contracting a disease. Rather, HIV/AIDS in women is, in the majority of cases, a result of the disadvantage they have in comparison with men. Women are dominated by men. The condition of dependency, taboos, lack of opportunity, ignorance, religion and others, make women unable to protect themselves to avoid the disease. HIV/AIDS in women is as result of women abuse and violence, mostly in developing countries. Thirdly, the social approach which is presented as one of the most likely to overcome the epidemic, is at the same time, recognised as the hardest to achieve. The social approach addresses the issue of "changing societal norms which means to recognise the context of men's life, taking into account their fears and desires and encouraging responsibility, communication with partners and respect for others and oneself". As a physician and public health worker, but mostly as a man, we must recognise that if we(men) are taking risks, we have to change our behaviour by taking responsibility. In this context the book has achieved its proposal.