Hiv Negative

"HIV-Negative opens up a much-needed discussion about the position of the uninfected in a community devastated and alienated by plague. It is compelling reading for those who are considering HIV testing, who have tested HIV-negative, or who are in positive-negative relationships, and it is a valuable resource for counselors, social workers, and therapists interested in the mental health of gay men, and for researchers and community activists interested in HIV-prevention issues." "The voices in this book raise questions that resonate within all of us: How do we experience and define the meanings of sexuality, vulnerability, mortality, and responsibility in the age of AIDS?"--Jacket

This volume addresses the interface of two major national problems: the epidemic of HIV-AIDS and the widespread use of illegal injection drugs. Should communities have the option of giving drug users sterile needles or bleach for cleaning needs in order to reduce the spread of HIV? Does needle distribution worsen the drug problem, as opponents of such programs argue? Do they reduce the spread of other serious diseases, such as hepatitis? Do they result in more used needles being carelessly discarded in the community? The panel takes a critical look at the available data on needle exchange and bleach distribution programs, reaches conclusions about their efficacy, and offers concrete recommendations for public policy to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS. The book includes current knowledge about the epidemiologies of HIV/AIDS and injection drug use; characteristics of needle exchange and bleach distribution programs and views on those programs from diverse community groups; and a discussion of laws designed to control possession of needles, their impact on needle sharing among injection drug users, and their implications for needle exchange programs.

For gay men who are HIV-negative in a community devastated by AIDS, survival may be a matter of grief, guilt, anxiety, and isolation. In the Shadow of the Epidemic is a passionate and intimate look at the emotional and psychological impact of AIDS on the lives of the survivors of the epidemic, those who must face on a regular basis the death of friends and, in some cases, the decimation of their communities. Drawing upon his own experience as a clinical psychologist and a decade-long involvement with AIDS/HIV issues, Walt Odets explores the largely unrecognized matters of denial, depression, and identity that mark the experience of uninfected gay men. Odets calls attention to the dire need to address issues that are affecting HIV-negative individuals-from concerns about sexuality and relations with those who are HIV-positive to universal questions about the nature and meaning of survival in the midst of disease. He argues that such action, while explicitly not directing attention away from the needs of those with AIDS, is essential to the human and biological well-being of gay communities. In the immensely powerful firsthand words of gay men living in a semiprivate holocaust, the need for a broader, compassionate approach to all of the AIDS epidemic's victims becomes clear. In the Shadow of the Epidemic is a pathbreaking first step toward meeting that need.

This edited volume presents a detailed portrait of couples living with mixed HIV status, where one partner is HIV-positive and the other negative. Readers will come to understand the various and complex ways in which these mixed-status, or serodiscordant couples build a life together within the shadow of HIV-related stigma. Spanning the globe, coverage explores serodiscordance as a negotiated practice and process, inseparable from the social context in which it is situated. The book shows how couples draw on diverse and sometimes contradictory cultural discourses of medicine, romance, and “normality” to make sense of and manage their mixed HIV status and any perceived risks, not uncommonly in ways that depart from prevailing HIV prevention messages. Throughout, compelling personal stories accompany the empirical research, sharing the firsthand experiences of men and women in serodiscordant relationships. Bringing together research from diverse disciplines and geographical regions, this book contributes important insights for future HIV health promotion as well as offers new knowledge to scholarship on the cultural intersections of illness and intimacy. It will appeal to a broad audience working across the fields of HIV, health, gender, sexuality, development, and human rights.

The Pocket Book is for use by doctors nurses and other health workers who are responsible for the care of young children at the first level referral hospitals. This second edition is based on evidence from several WHO updated and published clinical guidelines. It is for use in both inpatient and outpatient care in small hospitals with basic laboratory facilities and essential medicines. In some settings these guidelines can be used in any facilities where sick children are admitted for inpatient care. The Pocket Book is one of a series of documents and tools that support the Integrated Managem.

"I look back at the numbers of sexual partners I had and it becomes frightening. How could I escape? It's almost like you're being thrown into a pit that has 500,000 snakes in it and you manage to escape. But you know that somewhere in your pants there is a little snake that you didn't quite shake out - that eventually is going to bite you." This remark from an HIV-negative gay man expresses the disbelief, survivor guilt, and fatalism that is common among some uninfected gay men in the United States more than a decade into the AIDS epidemic. Traumatized by repeated losses and sometimes immobilized by fear, many HIV-negative gay men find themselves asking what it means to be a "survivor" of a disaster that is not yet over. HIV-Negative: How the Uninfected Are Affected by AIDS explores the psychological and social issues confronting HIV-negative gay men 10 years after the introduction of HIV-antibody testing. William I. Johnston, facilitator of a discussion group for uninfected gay men in Boston, presents in this book an illuminating portrait of a part of the gay community that has been largely neglected in the face of the grueling demands of the emergency response to the epidemic. Gathering materials from interviews with more than 45 uninfected gay men, the author examines the ways in which the concept of "HIV status" has profoundly altered gay culture. In these pages, men discuss their decisions to get HIV testing, reactions to testing negative, social and sexual relationships with HIV-positive men, attitudes toward sexual risk-taking and seroconverting (becoming HIV-positive), and the emotional and spiritual consequences of surviving the AIDS epidemic when others are dying. HIV-Negative opens up a much-needed discussion about the position of the uninfected in a community devastated and alienated by plague. It is compelling reading for those who are considering HIV testing, who have tested HIV-negative, or who are in positive-negative relationships, and it is a valuable resource for counselors, social workers, and therapists interested in the mental health of gay men, and for researchers and community activists interested in HIV-prevention issues. The voices in this book raise questions that resonate within all of us: How do we experience and define the meanings of sexuality, vulnerability, mortality, and responsibility in the age of AIDS?

Infectious diseases are the leading cause of death globally, particularly among children and young adults. The spread of new pathogens and the threat of antimicrobial resistance pose particular challenges in combating these diseases. Major Infectious Diseases identifies feasible, cost-effective packages of interventions and strategies across delivery platforms to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis, malaria, adult febrile illness, viral hepatitis, and neglected tropical diseases. The volume emphasizes the need to effectively address emerging antimicrobial resistance, strengthen health systems, and increase access to care. The attainable goals are to reduce incidence, develop innovative approaches, and optimize existing tools in resource-constrained settings.