The AIDS Pandemic: Searching for a Global Response - Softcover

“In our ever more globally interconnected world, we will continue to be faced with global pandemics like HIV/AIDS.  Learning from the lessons of our response to HIV/AIDS will help us be better prepared for the pandemics we face now and in the future.  Drs. Merson and Inrig tell a compelling, personal, and in-depth story about these lessons that should give us all much to think about now and in the future.” (Helene Gayle, CEO, McKinsey Social Initiative (Formerly President and CEO of CARE USA, and Director of the HIV,TB, and Reproductive Health Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation))

“Much has been written about global AIDS but little attention has been paid to the organization and effectiveness of global organizations in response to the pandemic.  The AIDS Pandemic: The Search for a Global Response, clearly and colorfully describes the history and inner workings of the WHO response from the inside view of its longtime thoughtful and accomplished Director.” (Jim Curran, Dean of Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University)

“Merson and Inrig provide us with a rare and unique insider’s view of the politics and science behind WHO’s initial response to the massive and deadly rise of HIV/AIDS across the globe. ... Following in the footsteps of Jonathan Mann, the first Director of GPA, Mike Merson become the second Director, and his story in this book reveals the difficulties, successes and failures of the WHO led response.  The story provides us with enumerable lessons that the world needs to heed in mounting global responses to the current and future pandemics.” (Tom Quinn, Director of Johns Hopkins Center for Global Health)

“Mike Merson had a front-row seat on the global response to AIDS during most of its crucial early years, from the day the charismatic Jonathan Mann was fired by World Health Organization Director General Hiroshi Nakajima to the folding of WHO's Global Programme on AIDS and the birth of UNAIDS under Peter Piot's leadership.  Merson and Inrig’s unique perspective and insights not only bring to life a fascinating period in our history, they offer many lessons for current and future international efforts to combat global pandemics and health inequity.” (Stef Bertozzi, Dean of the University of California Berkeley School of Public Health)

“To someone who lived through the transition from GPA to UNAIDS, this is a fascinating account of who did what, when and how. The complex web of personalities, politics and events - set against a raging epidemic - makes for a fascinating read.  For anyone interested in the UN, global health or human rights, this book is a must.” (Kathleen Cravero, President of Oak Foundation (Formerly Deputy Executive Director UNAIDS))

This ambitious book provides a comprehensive history of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Programme on AIDS (GPA), using it as a unique lens to trace the global response to the AIDS pandemic. The authors describe how WHO came initially to assume leadership of the global response, relate the strategies and approaches WHO employed over the years, and expound on the factors that led to the Programme’s demise and subsequent formation of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS(UNAIDS). The authors examine the global impact of this momentous transition, portray the current status of the global response to AIDS, and explore the precarious situation that WHO finds itself in today as a lead United Nations agency in global health.
Several aspects of the global response – the strategies adopted, the roads taken and not taken, and the lessons learned – can provide helpful guidance to the global health community as it continues tackling the AIDS pandemic and confronts future global pandemics.
Included in the coverage:

• The response before the global response
  
• Building and coordinating a multi-sectoral response
  
• Containing the global spread of HIV
  
• Addressing stigma, discrimination, and human rights
  
• Rethinking global AIDS governance
  
• UNAIDS and its place in the global response
  

The AIDS Pandemic: Searching for a Global Response recounts the global response to the AIDS pandemic from its inception to today. Policymakers, students, faculty, journalists, researchers, and health professionals interested in HIV/AIDS, global health, global pandemics, and the history of medicine will find it highly compelling and consequential. It will also interest those involved in global affairs, global governance, international relations, and international development.