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World AIDS Day
World AIDS Day began in 1988 to recognize the devastation AIDS was causing and help unite people living with HIV, those mourning loved ones lost to AIDS-related illnesses, and broader society to help end the stigma and isolation that prevents prevention, testing, and treatment to eradicate HIV-AIDS. World AIDS Day is a call to action to address the inequalities that perpetuate HIV-AIDS and address our misconceptions to protect those most at risk of infection and care for those living with HIV.
Ebooks
The Histories of HIVs by
This new collection of essays on HIV viruses spans disciplines to topple popular narratives about the origins of the AIDS pandemic and the impact of the disease on public health policy. With a death toll in the tens of millions, the AIDS pandemic was one of the worst medical disasters of the past century. The disease was identified in 1981, at the height of miraculous postwar medical achievements, including effective antibiotics, breakthrough advances in heart surgery and transplantations, and cheap, safe vaccines--smallpox had been eradicated just a few years earlier. Arriving as they did during this era of confidence in modern medicine, the HIV epidemics shook the public's faith in health science. Despite subsequent success in identifying, testing, and treating AIDS, the emergence of epidemics and outbreaks of Ebola, Zika, and the novel coronaviruses (SARS and COVID-19) are stark reminders that such confidence in modern medicine is not likely to be restored until the emergence of these viruses is better understood. This collection combines the work of major social science and humanities scholars with that of virologists and epidemiologists to provide a broader understanding of the historical, social, and cultural circumstances that produced the pandemic. The authors argue that the emergence of the HIV viruses and their epidemic spread were not the result of a random mutation but rather broader new influences whose impact depended upon a combination of specific circumstances at different places and times. The viruses emerged and were transmitted according to population movement and urbanization, changes in sexual relations, new medical procedures, and war. In this way, the AIDS pandemic was not a chance natural occurrence, but a human-made disaster. Essays by: Ernest M. Drucker, Tamara Giles-Vernick, Ch. Didier Gondola, Guillaume Lachenal, Amandine Lauro, Preston A. Marx, Stephanie Rupp, François Simon, Jorge Varanda
ISBN: 9780821424582Publication Date: 2021-08-17
Shadow Bodies by
What does it mean for Black women to organize in a political context that has generally ignored them or been unresponsive although Black women have shown themselves an important voting bloc? How for example, does #sayhername translate into a political agenda that manifests itself in specific policies? Shadow Bodies focuses on the positionality of the Black woman's body, which serves as a springboard for helping us think through political and cultural representations. It does so by asking: How do discursive practices, both speech and silences, support and maintain hegemonic understandings of Black womanhood thereby rendering some Black women as shadow bodies, unseen and unremarked upon? Grounded in Black feminist thought, Julia S. Jordan-Zachery looks at the functioning of scripts ascribed to Black women's bodies in the framing of HIV/AIDS, domestic abuse, and mental illness and how such functioning renders some bodies invisible in Black politics in general and Black women's politics specifically.
ISBN: 9780813593401Publication Date: 2017-10-30
Lethal Decisions by
This first-person account by one of the pioneers of HIV/AIDS research chronicles the interaction among the pediatric HIV/AIDS community, regulatory bodies, governments, and activists over more than three decades. After the discovery of AIDS in a handful of infants in 1981, the next fifteen years showed remarkable scientific progress in prevention and treatment, although blood banks, drug companies, and bureaucrats were often slow to act. 1996 was a watershed year when scientific and clinical HIV experts called for treating all HIV-infected individuals with potent triple combinations of antiretroviral drugs that had been proven effective. Aggressive implementation of prevention and treatment in the United States led to marked declines in the number of HIV-related deaths, fewer new infections and hospital visits, and fewer than one hundred infants born infected each year. Inexplicably, the World Health Organization recommended withholding treatment for the majority of HIV-infected individuals in poor countries, and clinical researchers embarked on studies to evaluate inferior treatment approaches even while the pandemic continued to claim the lives of millions of women and children. Why did it take an additional twenty years for international health organizations to recommend the treatment and prevention measures that had had such a profound impact on the pandemic in wealthy countries? The surprising answers are likely to be debated by medical historians and ethicists. At last, in 2015, came a universal call for treating all HIV-infected individuals with triple-combination antiretroviral drugs. But this can only be accomplished if the mistakes of the past are rectified. The book ends with recommendations on how the pediatric HIV/AIDS epidemic can finally be brought to an end.
ISBN: 9780826521248Publication Date: 2017-02-21
Positive Images by
A tidal wave of panic surrounded homosexuality and AIDS in the 1980s and early '90s, the period commonly called 'The AIDS Crisis'. With the advent of antiretroviral drugs in the mid '90s, however, the meaning of an HIV diagnosis radically changed. These game-changing drugs now enable many people living with HIV to lead a healthy, regular life, but how has this dramatic shift impacted the representation of gay men and HIV in popular culture? Positive Images is the first detailed examination of how the relationship between gay men and HIV has transformed in the past two decades. From Queer as Folk to Chemsex, The Line of Beauty to The Normal Heart, Dion Kagan examines literature, film, TV, documentaries and news coverage from across the English-speaking world to unearth the socio-cultural foundations underpinning this 'post-crisis' period. His analyses provide acute insights into the fraught legacies of the AIDS Crisis and its continued presence in the modern queer consciousness.
ISBN: 9781784534196Publication Date: 2018-05-30
The Socioeconomic Dimensions of HIV/AIDS in Africa by
Since the 1980s HIV/AIDS has occupied a singular position because of the rapidly emergent threat and devastation the disease has caused, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. New infections continue to create a formidable challenge to households, communities, and health systems: last year alone, 2.7 million new infections occurred globally. Sub-Saharan Africa remains the epicenter of the suffering, with around two-thirds of infected individuals worldwide found there, and a disproportionate number of deaths and new infections. For years there have been widespread and concerted efforts to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, identify a cure, and understand and mitigate the deleterious social and economic ramifications of the disease. Despite these efforts, and some apparent successes, there is still a long way to go in terms of altering behaviors in order to realize the objective of dramatic reductions in the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa. The authors in this volume examine the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa, which persists despite major strides in averting deaths due to antiretroviral therapy. They tell an important story of the distinct nature of the disease and its socioeconomic implications.
ISBN: 9780801476938Publication Date: 2010-12-22
AIDS and Rural Livelihoods by
AIDS epidemics continue to threaten the livelihoods of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa. Three decades after the disease was first recognized, the annual death toll from AIDS exceeds that from wars, famine and floods combined. Yet despite millions of dollars of aid and research, there has previously been little detailed on-the-ground analysis of the multifaceted impacts on rural people.Filling that gap, this book brings together recent evidence of AIDS impacts on rural households, livelihoods, and agricultural practice in sub-Saharan Africa. There is particular emphasis on the role of women in affected households, and on the situation of children. The book is unique in presenting micro-level information collected by original empirical research in a range of African countries, and showing how well-grounded conclusions on trends, impacts and local responses can be applied to the design of HIV-responsive policies and programmes. AIDS impacts are more diverse than we previously thought, and local responses more varied - sometimes innovative, sometimes desperate. The book represents a major contribution to our understanding of the impacts of AIDS in the epidemic's heartland, and how these can be managed at different levels.
ISBN: 9781849711258Publication Date: 2010-09-30
Articles
- ‘HIV both starts and stops with me’: Configuring the neoliberal sexual actor in HIV prevention. This article argues that newer HIV prevention campaigns and health promotions that focus on reaching the public with information on how to prevent HIV infections or treat them once a person becomes HIV positive are mainly built upon the rationale of what has been called ‘a neoliberal sexual actor’. The sexual actor being represented is predicated upon the tenets of a neoliberal subject wherein market choice, rational risk analysis, personal responsibility, and personal entrepreneurship are in focus. Whereas many of the newer health promotions are built upon the tenets of neoliberalism, these health promotions while being both inclusive in terms of sexualities and racialized identities nevertheless play on neoliberal ideals that may or may not be available for the people who are most vulnerable in terms of HIV risk. The article ends up by arguing that while many of these health promotions are both ‘sex-positive’ and avoid the specter of ‘risk’ and ‘infection’ and rather play on neoliberal concepts, they nevertheless also leave behind those that for whatever reasons cannot comply with or access these tenets. In an era when the HIV efort strongly plays on a rhetoric of ‘leaving no one behind’ such an overt focus on the neoliberal concepts of free choice, market freedom, personal responsibility, and ‘rational’ risk calculation, might end up leaving behind the most vulnerable people within the HIV epidemic.
- “To Me, Everybody Is infected”: Understanding Narratives about HIV Risk among HIV-negative Black Men Who Have Sex with Men in the Deep South. For black MSM living in the Deep South, the intersection of sexuality, race, and geography impacts HIV risk substantially. Between July and September 2016, we conducted a qualitative study among HIV-negative black MSM in five southern cities in the US with elevated HIV prevalence. Analysis included assessment of interrater reliability, cluster analysis, and descriptive statistics. We enrolled 99 black MSM (mean age: 33.6; SD = 12.8; range: 17–68 years). Four overarching themes emerged: harboring fear of HIV and the internalization of HIV stigma; scrutinizing potential partners to assess riskiness and HIV status; embracing distance and isolation from those perceived as a threat to HIV status; and exhibiting self-efficacy toward HIV prevention and utilizing risk reduction strategies. Future HIV prevention efforts may benefit by balancing risk and deficit based strategies with those that emphasize resilience, address disenfranchisement via structural interventions, and assess and treat inherent trauma(s).
- The DREAMS core package of interventions: A comprehensive approach to preventing HIV among adolescent girls and young women In sub-Saharan Africa, adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) are 5 to 14 times more likely to be infected with HIV than their male peers. Every day, more than 750 AGYW are infected with HIV. Many factors make girls and young women particularly vulnerable to HIV, including gender-based violence, exclusion from economic opportunities, and a lack of access to secondary school. The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is dedicating significant resources through the Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe (DREAMS) partnership to impact the lives of women and girls based on PEPFAR's mission to help countries achieve epidemic control of HIV/AIDS. The data show that new HIV infections must be reduced in AGYW, or the global community risks losing the extensive progress made towards reaching epidemic control. With support from PEPFAR and private sector partners-the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Gilead Sciences, Girl Effect, Johnson & Johnson and ViiV Healthcare, DREAMS works together with partner governments to deliver a core package of interventions that combines evidence-based approaches that go beyond the health sector, addressing the structural drivers that directly and indirectly increase girls' HIV risk. Not only is DREAMS an effort to reduce new HIV infections, but it aims to reduce other critical vulnerabilities such as gender-based violence. When girls and young women thrive, the effects are felt throughout their families, communities and countries.
- Interpersonal and intrapersonal manifestations of HIV stigma and their impacts on psychological distress and life satisfaction among people living with HIV: Toward a dual-process model Purpose As HIV is one of the most stigmatizing health conditions, people living with HIV (PLHIV) continue to experience multiple forms and sources of stigmatization, which negatively impact their quality of life. The present study proposed a dual-process model to understand the diferent manifestations of HIV stigma and examine how they relate to each other and afect psychological distress and life satisfaction in PLHIV. Methods Two hundred and ninety-one PLHIV in Hong Kong participated in the study and completed a self-report questionnaire on HIV stigma, psychological distress, and life satisfaction. Structural equation modeling was conducted to examine the mechanisms underlying HIV stigma and mental health. Results Around one-third of the participants experienced HIV-related avoidance and/or discrimination in diferent domains of life over the past year. Enacted stigma toward PLHIV was highly pronounced in Hong Kong, especially among general healthcare providers. The results revealed the interpersonal and intrapersonal processes underlying HIV stigma and mental health. While enacted stigma had a direct efect on psychological distress and life satisfaction, PLHIV might also internalize the stigmatizing beliefs associated with HIV identity, which were related to greater psychological distress and poorer life satisfaction. Conclusion Stigma reduction programs that target non-HIV healthcare workers are recommended to confront their misconceptions and biases toward PLHIV. Given the high prevalence of self-stigma, psychological interventions that focus on restructuring negative beliefs about PLHIV and reconstructing a self-empowering and positive identity are necessary to promote better mental health and quality of life.
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This LibGuide was co-created by Amy Harth, PhD, Assistant National Dean of Accreditation and Academic Quality, and by Joe Louderback, MLS, Reference and Instruction Librarian, as part of an ongoing series to reflect DeVry University’s commitment to, and celebration of, diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice.