AIDS in Africa: How the Poor are Dying / Edition 1

by Nana K. Poku

Overview

Across Africa, HIV/AIDS is slowly killing millions of people in the prime of their lives, weakening state structures, deepening poverty and reversing the gains in life expectancy achieved over the past century. Although many who study the dynamics of Africas AIDS crisis accept that, to some degree, its entrenchment is a socially produced phenomenon, few have examined how the course and intensity of the epidemic have been affected by the continents ubiquitous poverty, the impact of the pervasive structural adjustment programmes or Africas marginalization in the process of globalization until now.

This book explores the socio-economic context of Africas vulnerability to HIV/AIDS as well as assessing the politics of domestic and global response. Using primary and secondary data, it charts the power relations driving Africas HIV/AIDS epidemic, frustrating the possibility of alleviation and recovery as well as working to relegate the continent to a bleak and vulnerable future. In this sense, the book marks a radical departure by providing a comprehensive analysis of Africas vulnerability to AIDS and the challenges confronting policy makers as they seek to reverse its escalating prevalence on the continent.

AIDS in Africa is an immensely valuable introduction to the greatest pandemic facing the world today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780745631585
Publisher:	Polity Press
Publication date:	03/31/2006
Edition description:	REV
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

N.Poku, Director of Research, Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa

Table of Contents

Figures, Tables and Boxes.

Acronyms and Abbreviations.

Acknowledgements.

Introduction: Africa's AIDS Crisis in Context.

1. Stagnation, Decline and Vulnerability: A Brief History of Post-colonial Africa.

2. Understanding the Dynamics of HIV/AIDS in Africa.

3. The Social-Economic Impact of HIV/AIDS.

4. The Challenge of Scaling up HIV/AIDS Treatment Programmes in Africa.

5. Community-Based Strategies: Lessons from Below.

6. Setting Priorities for Confronting HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Glossary.

Notes.

References.

Index.

Editorial Reviews

Should be required reading for anyone involved in shaping national and international responses to the epidemic.”
International Affairs

"AIDS in Africa must serve as a call to action. Everybody should read it."
Kenneth D. Kaunda, First President of Zambia and Patron of the Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa

"This book assesses the broad spectrum of challenges that HIV/AIDS poses to the global community. It addresses the epidemic as a social, moral, ethical and economic imperative which brooks no denial. It is recommended reading for all engaged in overcoming the challenges of HIV infection and AIDS in Africa."
Joy Phumaphi, Assistant Director-General, Family and Community Health, World Health Organization

"This book provides a clear, readable and cogent account for students of health and politics of how the AIDS epidemic in Africa needs to be understood: as in part the consequence of a political dimension that has underpinned its spread, hinders its retreat and shapes responses to it."
Adrian Leftwich, University of York

From the Publisher