cover image AIDS Between Science and Politics

AIDS Between Science and Politics

Peter Piot, trans. from the French by Laurence Garey. Columbia Univ., $29.95 (208p) ISBN 978-0-231-16626-3

AIDS is still on the rise in many populations%E2%80%94including some with access to antiretroviral cocktails. To do away with AIDS, a strategic mix of political, economic, medical, cultural, and international and local anti-AIDS policies and projects is urgently needed, says Piot (No Time to Lose), director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and former Under Secretary General of the United Nations. He notes that while "spectacular" gains have been made in access to antiretroviral treatment, in 2012, 1.6 million people worldwide died of HIV, and "a majority of the over 35 million people living with HIV are now in need of antiretroviral treatment." Astonishingly, without a technological breakthrough, "the financial liability of lifelong antiretroviral treatment for millions of people" may end up "costing the equivalent of up to three times the annual GDP of countries such as Uganda and Swaziland." Furthermore, ultimate resistance to antiretrovirals is "unavoidable," so there is no "silver bullet for HIV prevention." He says that at-risk populations should be blasted with information on condoms, circumcision, pre-exposure prophylaxis, clean needles, and alcohol abuse; an accessible cure must also be vigorously pursued. This sobering book is a must-read for anyone in the field of AIDS and HIV prevention. (Mar.)