The Hidden Epidemic

The Hidden Epidemic PDF Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 030917547X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 446

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Book Description
The United States has the dubious distinction of leading the industrialized world in overall rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), with 12 million new cases annually. About 3 million teenagers contract an STD each year, and many will have long-term health problems as a result. Women and adolescents are particularly vulnerable to these diseases and their health consequences. In addition, STDs increase the risk of HIV transmission. The Hidden Epidemic examines the scope of sexually transmitted infections in the United States and provides a critical assessment of the nation's response to this public health crisis. The book identifies the components of an effective national STD prevention and control strategy and provides direction for an appropriate response to the epidemic. Recommendations for improving public awareness and education, reaching women and adolescents, integrating public health programs, training health care professionals, modifying messages from the mass media, and supporting future research are included. The book documents the epidemiological dimensions and the economic and social costs of STDs, describing them as "a secret epidemic" with tremendous consequences. The committee frankly discusses the confusing and often hypocritical nature of how Americans deal with issues regarding sexualityâ€"the conflicting messages conveyed in the mass media, the reluctance to promote condom use, the controversy over sex education for teenagers, and the issue of personal blame. The Hidden Epidemic identifies key elements of effective, culturally appropriate programs to promote healthy behavior by adolescents and adults. It examines the problem of fragmentation in STD services and provides examples of communities that have formed partnerships between stakeholders to develop integrated approaches. The committee's recommendations provide a practical foundation on which to build an integrated national program to help young people and adults develop habits of healthy sexuality. The Hidden Epidemic was written for both health care professionals and people without a medical background and will be indispensable to anyone concerned about preventing and controlling STDs.

The Hidden Epidemic

The Hidden Epidemic PDF Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 030917547X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 446

Get Book Here

Book Description
The United States has the dubious distinction of leading the industrialized world in overall rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), with 12 million new cases annually. About 3 million teenagers contract an STD each year, and many will have long-term health problems as a result. Women and adolescents are particularly vulnerable to these diseases and their health consequences. In addition, STDs increase the risk of HIV transmission. The Hidden Epidemic examines the scope of sexually transmitted infections in the United States and provides a critical assessment of the nation's response to this public health crisis. The book identifies the components of an effective national STD prevention and control strategy and provides direction for an appropriate response to the epidemic. Recommendations for improving public awareness and education, reaching women and adolescents, integrating public health programs, training health care professionals, modifying messages from the mass media, and supporting future research are included. The book documents the epidemiological dimensions and the economic and social costs of STDs, describing them as "a secret epidemic" with tremendous consequences. The committee frankly discusses the confusing and often hypocritical nature of how Americans deal with issues regarding sexualityâ€"the conflicting messages conveyed in the mass media, the reluctance to promote condom use, the controversy over sex education for teenagers, and the issue of personal blame. The Hidden Epidemic identifies key elements of effective, culturally appropriate programs to promote healthy behavior by adolescents and adults. It examines the problem of fragmentation in STD services and provides examples of communities that have formed partnerships between stakeholders to develop integrated approaches. The committee's recommendations provide a practical foundation on which to build an integrated national program to help young people and adults develop habits of healthy sexuality. The Hidden Epidemic was written for both health care professionals and people without a medical background and will be indispensable to anyone concerned about preventing and controlling STDs.

Remaking a Life

Remaking a Life PDF Author: Celeste Watkins-Hayes
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520968735
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 335

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Book Description
In the face of life-threatening news, how does our view of life change—and what do we do it transform it? Remaking a Life uses the HIV/AIDS epidemic as a lens to understand how women generate radical improvements in their social well being in the face of social stigma and economic disadvantage. Drawing on interviews with nationally recognized AIDS activists as well as over one hundred Chicago-based women living with HIV/AIDS, Celeste Watkins-Hayes takes readers on an uplifting journey through women’s transformative projects, a multidimensional process in which women shift their approach to their physical, social, economic, and political survival, thereby changing their viewpoint of “dying from” AIDS to “living with” it. With an eye towards improving the lives of women, Remaking a Life provides techniques to encourage private, nonprofit, and government agencies to successfully collaborate, and shares policy ideas with the hope of alleviating the injuries of inequality faced by those living with HIV/AIDS everyday.

Facing a Pandemic

Facing a Pandemic PDF Author: Elias Kifon Bongmba
Publisher: Baylor University Press
ISBN: 1932792821
Category : AIDS (Disease)
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
The central argument is that the theological motif of the image of God invites a prophetic critique of the social environment in which HIV/AIDS thrives and calls for a praxis of love and compassion.

The Social Impact of AIDS in the United States

The Social Impact of AIDS in the United States PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309046289
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
Europe's "Black Death" contributed to the rise of nation states, mercantile economies, and even the Reformation. Will the AIDS epidemic have similar dramatic effects on the social and political landscape of the twenty-first century? This readable volume looks at the impact of AIDS since its emergence and suggests its effects in the next decade, when a million or more Americans will likely die of the disease. The Social Impact of AIDS in the United States addresses some of the most sensitive and controversial issues in the public debate over AIDS. This landmark book explores how AIDS has affected fundamental policies and practices in our major institutions, examining: How America's major religious organizations have dealt with sometimes conflicting values: the imperative of care for the sick versus traditional views of homosexuality and drug use. Hotly debated public health measures, such as HIV antibody testing and screening, tracing of sexual contacts, and quarantine. The potential risk of HIV infection to and from health care workers. How AIDS activists have brought about major change in the way new drugs are brought to the marketplace. The impact of AIDS on community-based organizations, from volunteers caring for individuals to the highly political ACT-UP organization. Coping with HIV infection in prisons. Two case studies shed light on HIV and the family relationship. One reports on some efforts to gain legal recognition for nonmarital relationships, and the other examines foster care programs for newborns with the HIV virus. A case study of New York City details how selected institutions interact to give what may be a picture of AIDS in the future. This clear and comprehensive presentation will be of interest to anyone concerned about AIDS and its impact on the country: health professionals, sociologists, psychologists, advocates for at-risk populations, and interested individuals.

AIDS in French Culture

AIDS in French Culture PDF Author: David Caron
Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Press
ISBN: 0299172937
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 217

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Book Description
The deluge of metaphors triggered in 1981 in France by the first public reports of what would turn out to be the AIDS epidemic spread with far greater speed and efficiency than the virus itself. To understand why it took France so long to react to the AIDS crisis, AIDS in French Culture analyzes the intersections of three discourses—the literary, the medical, and the political—and traces the origin of French attitudes about AIDS back to nineteenth-century anxieties about nationhood, masculinity, and sexuality.

After the Wrath of God

After the Wrath of God PDF Author: Anthony M. Petro
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199391297
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 307

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Book Description
On a cold February morning in 1987, amidst freezing rain and driving winds, a group of protesters stood outside of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Amherst, Massachusetts. The target of their protest was the minister inside, who was handing out condoms to his congregation while delivering a sermon about AIDS, dramatizing the need for the church to confront the seemingly ever-expanding crisis. The minister's words and actions were met with a standing ovation from the overflowing audience, but he could not linger to enjoy their applause. Having received threats in advance of the service, he dashed out of the sanctuary immediately upon finishing his sermon. Such was the climate for religious AIDS activism in the 1980s. In After the Wrath of God, Anthony Petro vividly narrates the religious history of AIDS in America. Delving into the culture wars over sex, morality, and the future of the American nation, he demonstrates how religious leaders and AIDS activists have shaped debates over sexual morality and public health from the 1980s to the present day. While most attention to religion and AIDS foregrounds the role of the Religious Right, Petro takes a much broader view, encompassing the range of mainline Protestant, evangelical, and Catholic groups--alongside AIDS activist organizations--that shaped public discussions of AIDS prevention and care in the U.S. Petro analyzes how the AIDS crisis prompted American Christians across denominations and political persuasions to speak publicly about sexuality--especially homosexuality--and to foster a moral discourse on sex that spoke not only to personal concerns but to anxieties about the health of the nation. He reveals how the epidemic increased efforts to advance a moral agenda regarding the health benefits of abstinence and monogamy, a legacy glimpsed as much in the traction gained by abstinence education campaigns as in the more recent cultural purchase of gay marriage. The first book to detail the history of religion and the AIDS epidemic in the U.S., After the Wrath of God is essential reading for anyone concerned with the intersection of religion and public health.

AIDS, Identity, and Community

AIDS, Identity, and Community PDF Author: Gregory M. Herek
Publisher: SAGE Publications
ISBN: 1452246505
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 251

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Book Description
HIV alters the lives of anyone that it touches, whether they are gay or straight. This book looks at all of the aspects of how HIV/AIDS has altered the lives of those it touches. . . . The titles of the 12 chapters give an excellent overview of what is covered in these extremely well-written reports. . . . This is a must-read book for everyone. It should be in all libraries, including school libraries. Young adolescents who are facing the problem of coming out would benefit from this book. --AIDS Book Review Journal Hit hard by the AIDS epidemic in the United States and in much of Europe, the gay and lesbian community has been forced to examine existing notions of what it means to belong to a community based on sexual orientation. The editors of this second volume in the annual series Psychological Perspectives on Lesbian and Gay Issues have collected a perceptive array of chapters that explore sexual behavior, personal identity, and community memberships of gay men and lesbian women. With the exception of a few, the chapters reflect study findings from AIDS-related research and include discussions of AIDS in large urban centers and in less populated settings outside of major AIDS epicenters. Focusing on underconsidered AIDS populations, the contributors explore specific topics concerning the AIDS epidemic among gay and bisexual men of color, lesbian women, and gay and lesbian youth. Accessible and sensitive, the book also examines relevant public policy, volunteerism, and long-term survival as important to AIDS awareness and education. AIDS, Identity, and Community is an appreciable resource for AIDS researchers and caregivers, mental health practitioners, social service professionals, behavioral and social science students, and any reader who seeks deeper insight into the complex and subtle areas of the lesbian and gay community in the AIDS era.

Moving Politics

Moving Politics PDF Author: Deborah B. Gould
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226305317
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 537

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Book Description
In the late 1980s, after a decade spent engaged in more routine interest-group politics, thousands of lesbians and gay men responded to the AIDS crisis by defiantly and dramatically taking to the streets. But by the early 1990s, the organization they founded, ACT UP, was no more—even as the AIDS epidemic raged on. Weaving together interviews with activists, extensive research, and reflections on the author’s time as a member of the organization, Moving Politics is the first book to chronicle the rise and fall of ACT UP, highlighting a key factor in its trajectory: emotion. Surprisingly overlooked by many scholars of social movements, emotion, Gould argues, plays a fundamental role in political activism. From anger to hope, pride to shame, and solidarity to despair, feelings played a significant part in ACT UP’s provocative style of protest, which included raucous demonstrations, die-ins, and other kinds of street theater. Detailing the movement’s public triumphs and private setbacks, Moving Politics is the definitive account of ACT UP’s origin, development, and decline as well as a searching look at the role of emotion in contentious politics.

Confronting AIDS

Confronting AIDS PDF Author: World Bank
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 9780195215915
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 396

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Book Description
This revised and updated edition of the pathbreaking report on the global AIDS epidemic outlines the strategic role that government must play in slowing the spread of HIV and mitigating the impact of AIDS. Drawing on the knowledge accumulated in the 17 years since the virus that causes AIDS was first identified, the report highlights policies that are most likely to be effective in managing the epidemic. These include early actions to minimize the spread of the virus, aiming preventive interventions at high risk groups, and evaluating measures that would assist households affected by AIDS according to the same standards applied to other health issues. This revised edition will a valuable resource for public health, policymakers, researchers, and anyone with an interest in this devastating global health crisis.

AIDS in Africa

AIDS in Africa PDF Author: Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.
Publisher: World Health Organization
ISBN:
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
This report presents three hypothetical case studies for how the AIDS epidemic in Africa could evolve over the next 20 years based on policy decisions taken today by African leaders and the rest of the world; and considers the factors likely to drive the future responses of African countries and the international community. The scenarios draw on the age-old tradition of story-telling, rather than using data projections, to explore the wider context of the AIDS epidemic, reflecting the complexity of the subject matter.