AIDS in Africa : How the Poor Are Dying

Across Africa, HIV/AIDS is slowly killing millions of people in theprime of their lives, weakening state structures, deepening povertyand reversing the gains in life expectancy achieved over the pastcentury. Although many who study the dynamics of Africas AIDScrisis accept that, to some degree, its entrenchment is a sociallyproduced phenomenon, few have examined how the course and intensityof the epidemic have been affected by the continents ubiquitouspoverty, the impact of the pervasive structural adjustmentprogrammes or Africas marginalization in the process ofglobalization until now. This book explores the socio-economic context of Africasvulnerability to HIV/AIDS as well as assessing the politics ofdomestic and global response. Using primary and secondary data, itcharts the power relations driving Africas HIV/AIDS epidemic,frustrating the possibility of alleviation and recovery as well asworking to relegate the continent to a bleak and vulnerable future.In this sense, the book marks a radical departure by providing acomprehensive analysis of Africas vulnerability to AIDS and thechallenges confronting policy makers as they seek to reverse itsescalating prevalence on the continent. AIDS in Africa is an immensely valuable introduction to thegreatest pandemic facing the world today.