Overcoming Aids

As a result of the AIDS epidemic, many nations around the world have faced the demands of caring for a particularly vulnerable population of children, the orphans of parents who have died of AIDS or whose caregivers are terminally ill from the disease. Overcoming AIDS: Lessons Learned from Uganda offers an in-depth exploration of this global issue and provides a broad focus on evolving a constructive response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This collaborative resource is the fourth in the Research in Global Child Advocacy book series, and it offers readers a glimpse into the experience of HIV/AIDS infected and affected people from the perspective of researchers, policy makers, and professionals who diligently work toward crafting a framework for action that is integrated across disciplines. Despite the enormity and intensity of the problem, chapter authors share a commitment to advocate for a better world in which social and economic disparities do not preclude children from experiencing a future that is bright with potential opportunities and hope.

What if you were told that you might possibly spend the rest of your life in a wheelchair? Oh, and you are HIV positive too! And, only a few seemed to care? More Than a Wheelchair; More than HIV is a story, my story, of survival of AIDS in the years after 2000 and having to cope with the challenges it presented me. It is so disturbing and disheartening to see the growing indifference toward HIV and to have a younger generation oblivious and unconcerned by its possible resurgence as a life-altering moment in their carefree lives. I was told that I was going to die numerous times in November 1999, but I astounded them first by recovering and then with my determination and use of imagination in my therapies and exercises hoping to regain what I had lost at the beginning of my bout with PML (Progressive Multifocal Leucoencephalopathy). I usually explain PML as like having a stroke. It is the simplest explanation. The PML had taken so much from me which left me to re-build my shattered life piece by piece and this book highlights the various obstacles I had to overcome to attain my goals. Every barrier presented to me brought a new round of flashbacks of my childhood, my career and my happy-go-lucky gay life. As I improved, every hurdle inspired me to write my thoughts. Many things have changed since I first faced the onset of AIDS - new forms of treatments, new drugs and new hope, as well as indifference and attitudes. This story can be used for any physical challenge but gives a more human feel to the HIV/ AIDS crisis which seems to be almost forgotten which should be a source of concern to everyone

The book begins by illuminating the various challenges posed by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, from the medical and public health dimensions to the pervasive social stigma that continues to hinder prevention and treatment efforts. It acknowledges the evolving nature of the virus and the impact it has on individuals and communities worldwide. As the narrative unfolds, the focus shifts towards proactive and evidence-based strategies. The book advocates for comprehensive education and awareness campaigns to destigmatize HIV/AIDS, fostering a more informed and supportive societal environment. It emphasizes the importance of accessible healthcare, not only in terms of treatment but also in prevention efforts, including widespread access to testing and counseling services.

The AIDS epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa continues to affect all facets of life throughout the subcontinent. Deaths related to AIDS have driven down the life expectancy rate of residents in Zambia, Kenya, and Uganda with far-reaching implications. This book details the current state of the AIDS epidemic in Africa and what is known about the behaviors that contribute to the transmission of the HIV infection. It lays out what research is needed and what is necessary to design more effective prevention programs.

HIV/AIDS is on the increase among Black women, yet there is a silence that speaks volumes in the community, the nation and the church about this epidemic. Have we forsaken our mothers, daughters and sisters in order to hide the shame of our own lack of involvement? What price will we pay for our detachment from the most indiscriminate health crisis of our time? Perhaps there is hope, if we begin to look at HIV/AIDS through the eyes of those who have been there.

In this groundbreaking narrative, longtime Washington Post reporter Craig Timberg and award-winning AIDS researcher Daniel Halperin tell the surprising story of how Western colonial powers unwittingly sparked the AIDS epidemic and then fanned its rise. Drawing on remarkable new science, Tinderbox overturns the conventional wisdom on the origins of this deadly pandemic and the best ways to fight it today. Recent genetic studies have traced the birth of HIV to the forbidding equatorial forests of Cameroon, where chimpanzees carried the virus for millennia without causing a major outbreak in humans. During the Scramble for Africa, colonial companies blazed new routes through the jungle in search of rubber and other riches, sending African porters into remote regions rarely traveled before. It was here that humans first contracted the strain of HIV that would eventually cause 99 percent of AIDS deaths around the world. Western powers were key actors in turning a localized outbreak into a sprawling epidemic as bustling new trade routes, modern colonial cities, and the rise of prostitution sped the virus across Africa. Christian missionaries campaigned to suppress polygamy, but left in its place fractured sexual cultures that proved uncommonly vulnerable to HIV. Equally devastating was the gradual loss of the African ritual of male circumcision, which recent studies have shown offers significant protection against infection. Timberg and Halperin argue that the same Western hubris that marked the colonial era has hamstrung the effort to fight HIV. From the United Nations AIDS program to the Bush administration's historic relief campaign, global health officials have favored well-meaning Western approaches--abstinence campaigns, condom promotion, HIV testing--that have proven ineffective in slowing the epidemic in Africa. Meanwhile they have overlooked homegrown African initiatives aimed squarely at the behaviors spreading the virus. In a riveting narrative that stretches from colonial Leopoldville to 1980s San Francisco to South Africa today, Tinderbox reveals how human hands unleashed this epidemic and can now overcome it, if only we learn the lessons of the past.