Living with HIV and Dying with AIDS: Diversity, Inequality and Human Rights in the Global Pandemic (Routledge Global Health Series) - Softcover

'Amidst the plethora of books on AIDS, this volume stands out for its concern to locate and properly "contextualize" the experiences of people with HIV, both socially and geographically. The authors are to be congratulated for synthesising and adding value to scholarship and advocacy internationally.'Peter Aggleton, The University of New South Wales, Australia'Doyal's book shows how social science can help understand and address the challenges facing people living with HIV around the world today. It is a magisterial synthesis presented in a lucid, straightforward and engaging style that illuminates what is at stake in living with HIV today. It is ideally suited to introducing students to this vast and important topic.'Vinh-Kim Nguyen, Universite de Montreal, Canada'In this comprehensive book, Doyal starkly traces and connects the gross inequities of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, from infection to death, in relation to political geography, political economy, gender, sexuality, class, and race/ethnicity. Confronting how these inequities harm people with HIV/AIDS and their partners, parents, children, and communities, it offers a galvanizing introduction to the pandemic's core equity issues.'Nancy Krieger, Harvard School of Public Health, USA'Offering compelling evidence of the inadequacy of biomedical models for the AIDS response, this book provides a clear and lucid look at the inequalities that drive growing rates of HIV infection and the inadequacy of existing systems to address them. Bringing to life the old adage the "personal is political", it provides valuable evidence of the social and economic realities faced by HIV-infected people everywhere.'Sofia Gruskin, University of Southern California, USA'A powerful combination of qualitative empirical data, sensitive sociological insights into diverse contexts of living and dying with HIV/AIDS, and a clear explication of the relevance of human rights both within nations and globally. Collaborative work between medical and social science researchers is the suggested path to deeper understanding of the profound burden of social suffering that extends beyond biomedical considerations.'Solomon Benatar, University of Cape Town, South Africa, and University of Toronto, Canada'A wide-ranging analysis of what makes HIV such a potent agent of human suffering, and why the remarkable biomedical progress of the past 30 years must be matched by advances in human rights, equity and access for there to be real progress. Here is a contextual backcloth against which clinicians can re-evaluate treatment and care for HIV.' Jane Anderson, Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, UK'No other source provides such an insightful, integrated, broadly-focused analysis that uses an explicit conceptual framework to take context and differences into account, systematically connecting human needs, human rights and inequality. This brilliant, accessible book is essential reading for policy-makers, practitioners and academics, whether or not they are interested in the specific case of HIV and AIDs.'Pat Armstrong, York University, Toronto, Canada

There is now a vast literature on HIV and AIDS but much of it is based on traditional biomedical or epidemiological approaches. Hence it tells us very little about the experiences of the millions of people whose living and dying constitute the reality of this devastating pandemic. Doyal brings together findings from a wide range of empirical studies spanning the social sciences to explore experiences of HIV positive people across the world. This will illustrate how the disease is physically manifested and psychologically internalised by individuals in diverse ways depending on the biological, social, cultural and economic circumstances in which they find themselves. A proper understanding of these commonalities and differences will be essential if future strategies are to be effective in mitigating the effects of HIV and AIDS. Doyal shows that such initiatives will also require a better appreciation of the needs and rights of those affected within the wider context of global inequalities and injustices. Finally, she outlines approaches to address these challenges. This book will appeal to everyone involved in struggles to improve the well-being of those with HIV and AIDS. While academically rigorous, it is written in an accessible manner that transcends specific disciplines and, through its extensive bibliography, provides diverse source material for future teaching, learning and research.