AIDS in the UK: The Making of Policy, 1981-1994 [Paperback]

Virginia Berridge (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 25, 1996

Fifteen years ago the AIDS epidemic did not exist on the public agenda. In just over a decade the public and official response to the disease has resulted in the development of a whole network of organizations devoted to the study, containment, and practical treatment of AIDS. In this fascinating and scholarly account, Virginia Berridge analyses a remarkable period in contemporary British history, and exposes the reaction of the British public and British political and medical elites to one of the most challenging issues of this century.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Well-documented book...Very readable account of a complex of events that have shaped the AIDS policy for Great Britain....An excellent starting point for anyone doing research on the history of the epidemic in any other country. Recommended for all academic libraries."--AIDS Book Review Journal

About the Author

Virginia Berridge is Senior Lecturer in History at the Health Policy Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London.

Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (July 25, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198204736
• ISBN-13: 978-0198204732
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,007,793 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Thorough Analysis of the Politics of AIDS, July 31, 2003

By 

Paul Sendziuk (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: AIDS in the UK: The Making of Policy, 1981-1994 (Paperback)

Berridges 'AIDS in the UK' is a thorough chronicle of political responses to the AIDS epidemic in the UK. She categorises AIDS policy-making in Britain into four periods: the first, a period of inaction and low-level funding; the second, a phase of war-like mobilisation that began at the end of 1986 and was characterised by extensive funding for AIDS education; the third, a normalisation stage in which HIV/AIDS became positioned as a chronic illness and lost the medias attention; and finally the current period of uncertainty in which Britains pragmatic and consensual approach to AIDS is threatened by conservative forces. (Australian readers might be pleased to know that their politicians responded in a similar manner, although they were roused into action almost two years earlier than their British counterparts.)

Berridge also claims that AIDS policy-making in Britain was guided by an existing social policy agenda, and thus cannot be characterised as particularly exceptional. For example, she notes that harm minimisation strategies aimed at combating health problems associated with drug use were already accepted in principle by government and were awaiting implementation. Politicians and health authorities were finding it difficult to sell these ideas to the public, however, until the threat of AIDS provided them with a mandate to turn innovative policy into practice.

In comparison to Simon Garfields account of AIDS in the UK, Berridge diminishes the significance of the role played by activists and affected communities in shaping the nature of AIDS policy and the epidemic in Britain. Despite occasionally peeking from the meeting rooms of advisory committees, her focus remains on politicians and bureaucrats. This is, in my opinion, the book's most significant flaw. It remains, however, a thoroughly researched and important account of the AIDS epidemic.