The Wisdom of Whores: Bureaucrats, Brothels, and the Business of AIDS
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A flame-throwing epidemiologist talks about sex, drugs, and the mistakes (dismal), ideologies (vicious), and hopes (realistic) of international AIDS prevention. Janet A. Crum - Library Journal Despite billions of dollars in funding, international HIV-prevention efforts sometimes achieve only modest results, a reality the author sums up as the triumph of politics and ideology over sound science. Combining a background in journalism with experience as an epidemiologist (who has worked with, among other organizations, UNAIDS, the World Bank, and the health ministries of several Asian governments), Pisani here presents a blunt, cynical, and even funny insider's view of global HIV-prevention efforts. When she isn't telling colorful stories, she's skewering everyone who allows ideology to overrule science, e.g., conservatives who oppose needle exchanges and the distribution of condoms despite evidence that they reduce the spread of HIV significantly; well-meaning international development professionals who argue that HIV is spread by poverty and gender inequality rather than by sex and IV drug use; and, especially, politicians who allow the epidemic to grow rather than make unpopular-but evidence-based-decisions. Though she writes in a lively journalistic style, Pisani crafts cogent arguments and supports them with detailed footnotes and an extensive bibliography. Highly recommended for all collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ2/1/08; visit the author online at www.ternyata.org/about/index.html.-Ed.]
Author's Note xiAcknowledgements xiiiPreface: The Accidental Epidemiologist 1Cooking Up an Epidemic 13Landscapes of Desire 43The Honesty Box 84The Naked Truth 124Sacred Cows 161Articles of Faith 188HIV Shoots Up 227Ants in the Sugar-Bowl 269Full Circle 301Notes 327Bibliography 347Index 365
