Wasn’t sure where to put this, but it is a book, so…
Has anyone ever read this interesting book? It’s by Elizabeth Pisani. There was quite a bit of press in the UK when it came out.
It’s basically an epidemiologist/journalist’s thoughts on why HIV spreads, how we should prevent the spread of HIV and the numerous ways politicians, charities and other associated ‘experts’ are fucking up in their attempts to prevent the spread of the virus.
It has a lot of arguments which could potentially piss off right and left alike - that HIV isn’t an equal opportunity virus, that specific groups are at higher risk, that religious fundies get in the way of good work, that harm reduction is absolutely a good idea- and so on.
Her chapter on Africa could spawn a billion heated blogs in itself, but I really haven’t found that much discussion of this book on t’Internet.
Her arguments against the abolition of sex work might be seen as controversial, as she makes the argument that it’s one shitty job that pays better than other shitty jobs, in her criticism of abolitionists (she’s obviously not pro-trafficking but in the book claims in some cases the prevalence of women being forced into prostitution has been exaggerated).
More specifically on the spread of HIV, her explanation for its horrendous spread amongst heterosexuals in subsarahan Africa is, she states, due to the sexual practices of Africans in that region, and she criticises those who she feels are scared to say this, and who would focus on things like gender inequality and poverty as factors.