Aids: Don't Die of Prejudice - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1849547041 ISBN 13: 9781849547048

Publisher: Biteback Publishing, 2014

Synopsis

Shortlisted for Polemic of the Year at The Paddy Power Political Book Awards 2015 Eighteen million people around the world live with HIV but do not know they are infected. Endangering both themselves and countless others, they represent a public health challenge that affects not only Africa but every part of the world, including Europe and the United States. We stand at a tipping point in the AIDS crisis - and unless we can increase the numbers tested and treated, we will not defeat it. In spite of the progress since the 1980s there are still over 1.5 million deaths and over 2 million new HIV infections a year. Norman Fowler has travelled to nine cities around the globe to report on the position today. What he discovered was a shocking blend of ignorance, prejudice, bigotry and intolerance. In Africa and Eastern Europe, a rising tide of discrimination against gays and lesbians prevents many from coming forward for testing. In Russia, drug users are dying because an intolerant government refuses to introduce the policies that would save them. Extraordinarily, Washington has followed suit and excluded financial help for proven policies on drugs, and has turned its back on sex workers. In this lucid yet powerful account, Norman Fowler reveals the steps that must be taken to prevent a global tragedy. Aids: Don't Die of Prejudice is both an in-depth investigation and an impassioned call to arms against the greatest public health threat in the world today.

About this title

About the Author

Norman Fowler started his career as a journalist at The Times and for over thirty years was an elected MP, serving in Margaret Thatcher's Cabinet before becoming Chairman of the Conservative Party under John Major. He joined the House of Lords in 2001. He is the longest-serving British Health Secretary since the Second World War, and has devoted much of his life to raising awareness about HIV/AIDS.

Review

'An immensely important and readable book. There is no political voice in Britain who speaks on the subject with such authority.' Stephen Fry '[a] powerful book]' Peter Tatchell, Evening Standard 'It is a pacey read and its insistence that tolerance and harm reduction are the only way forward - is to be warmly commended.' The Independent "Fowler's message of tolerance and pragmatism, and his continued commitment to the field, is creditable in a world that still has a long way to go in fighting prejudice, and as a result in ending the scourge of HIV." FT "It is precisely this harnessing of historical analysis to pressing contemporary issues which makes this such a timely and instructive read - the book ends with a series of ten clearly defined proposals which I can only recommend to your attention - perhaps most impressive of all is his stirring and emotional endpiece concerning his own journey of discovery." Attitude

Edition details

• Publisher: Biteback Publishing
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1849547041
• ISBN 13: 9781849547048
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 304