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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Objective and Compelling, September 23, 2006
This review is from: The Epidemic: A Global History of AIDS (Hardcover)
THE EPIDEMIC is a comprehensive and compelling history of AIDS - a devastating disease that has evoked not only human suffering, but medical, political, religious, and social controversy in the 25+ years since it exploded onto the world scene.
Unlike some authors, who use the issue as a platform for whatever cause they are espousing, Jonathan Engel, Ph.D., offers a systematic exploration of the disease, its rapid and far-reaching proportions, the victims and their suffering, and the barriers to effective eradication. The author writes with great urgency, bringing clarity and focus to an affliction whose medical issues are often overshadowed by other factors.
AIDS is a frightening illness, bringing agonizing suffering and death to countless numbers throughout the world. Yet, because of its origins, means of transmission, and perceptions of the "typical" patient, the human suffering is often ignored amidst strident politicizing - in effect dehumanizing its victims, transforming them into abstract stereotypes.
Dr. Engel's research is comprehensive, his writing is clear and compelling, and his methodical exposition sheds important light onto a subject that many prefer would be swept into the dark crevices of society. The author puts a human face on a global pandemic; only through compassion, care, and nonjudgmental treatment and addressing of root causes, will the scourge ultimately be eliminated.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent overview, April 2, 2007
This review is from: The Epidemic: A Global History of AIDS (Hardcover)
This book gives an excellent overview of the history, spread and consequences of HIV as it spreads through the global population. Written in a clear and easy to read style it provides a depth of accurate information to the layperson that I do not think can be easily gotten elsewhere.
I was particularly impressed with the author's grasp of the cultural aspects of the disease and the way in which beliefs, traditions and practices contribue to how effectively specific populations are coping with the virus.
This book should be recommended reading!
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12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Language Matters, June 22, 2009
This review is from: The Epidemic: A Global History of AIDS (Hardcover)
I read The Epidemic hoping to find new, useful information to use in updating my own 1999 AIDS history, Victory Deferred: How AIDS Changed Gay Life in America (University of Chicago Press). I have to admit I was skeptical that any book could capture the global breadth of the HIV pandemic, and The Epidemic proved my skepticism well-founded. Not only does it skim along the surface of important, even profound, events, but the book is written in language that leaves the impression the author has not learned anything from what the pandemic has taught about the vital importance of language. I was surprised to learn the author holds a PhD in the history of medicine from Yale.
Here is what I mean: Throughout the book the terms HIV and AIDS are used interchangeably; they are not interchangeable. As it has been used since HIV testing became available, in 1985, AIDS refers to the advanced stage of HIV disease (the preferred term for the spectrum of HIV-related infection and illness) at which the virus has seriously damaged the immune system. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considers a CD4 T-cell count below 200, a CD4 T-cell percentage below 14 percent, or the presence of an opportunistic infection in someone who has HIV to be what "defines" AIDS. A person cannot "catch" AIDS, though an HIV-positive person can progress to AIDS if his/her HIV infection is not managed with antiretroviral therapy. Throughout The Epidemic, the author refers to people "catching," being "infected with" or "spreading" AIDS. This is inaccurate, misleading and even a bit histrionic.
Other examples of poor language choice (and sloppy writing): "the gay community has been uniquely vulnerable to the virus." No, individuals who practice particular activities (primarily unprotected receptive anal intercourse) are uniquely vulnerable to the virus; the gay community includes such men, though not all gay men practice such activities. "Diseased already, the prostitutes could both more easily get the disease as well as give it." This is highly stigmatizing language. "AIDS babies." What is an "AIDS baby"? I will assume it's a "baby born with HIV infection"?
In a 300+ page book, the tremendously important role of AIDS service organizations in caring for the sick and preventing further HIV transmission is considered in a few paragraphs. The global impact of gay American men with AIDS in the early 1980s insisting on an active role in their health care decisions, demanding respect and rejecting the label of "AIDS victim" isn't even considered. But maybe that isn't surprising because they were the very people with AIDS (as they insisted on being called) who pointed out that language--how one refers to a person or describes a disease caused by a retrovirus--matters.
Clearly this book has not benefitted from some of the most basic, and most important, lessons of the history of the HIV pandemic. It breaks no new ground, and offers only a superficial, not very well polished, gloss on what was called as early as 1983 "the most important health crisis of our time." I wish I had found something useful here to help update my own book, but unfortunately I didn't.
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