Customer Reviews

HIV, Health, and Your Community: A Guide for Action

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This book is an easy-to-understand guide for health workers throughout the world, notably in areas with few medical resources. It could be equally useful in a rural village in southern Africa, a major city in Thailand, or a Peace Corps worker's backpack. Designed as a manual for people confronting the HIV epidemic in their communities, it has been written to be easily accessible to those without medical or technical knowledge and without prior training in the prevention of HIV and the care of those with AIDS. Topics range from the biology of the virus to designing prevention programs, from the epidemiology of the disease to writing grant proposals. The authors discuss explicitly the risk factors for infection and suggest helpful methods for explaining them and assisting people to change their behavior. They avoid extensive discussions of medical treatments not available to the vast majority of the people in the world who have HIV, focusing instead on public health interventions that are possible in less industrialized settings. However, an appendix aimed at readers with medical training discusses common HIV-related illnesses and their treatment. The authors use contemporary examples, most drawn from actual experience, to emphasize the growing prevalence of HIV and to reflect successful prevention efforts by health workers around the world. Illustrations are used throughout the book to highlight important topics and to increase the accessibility of the text.

I've been involved with domestic AIDS work for a few years now, but this book helped even me to understand some things better. It has a very easy-to-read-format, quick reference for specific topics, and addresses foreign issues very well. There are some helpful tips and advice that you can apply in real-life settings. I would (and have) reccommend this book to anyone who wants to learn, or already has.