This book was written in 1987, when HIV/AIDS was a new and different threat than it is today. Its lessons, however, about politics, power, and public health are immensely useful, and frighteningly familiar. Don’t be put off by the size of the book or the tiny text. It is written by a journalist and is an easy read, assisted by a great index at the back, and once you choose a focus, and get started, you’ll find it fascinating. You’ll even discover some names who have been all over the news recently. (Hint, his initials are AF.)
You will be assigned one of the following “communities/people” that is chronicled in the book. Follow this thread throughout the book and be prepared to discuss (and put in writing) a few thoughts about the following: a brief description of this community and the important features of its engagement in the early days of the AIDS epidemic. Be prepared to discuss your community/person with others who are assigned the same community/person, and then to discuss your group’s “findings” with other groups.
Specifically, your brief summary should include:
a) The role that this person or group played in the early history of HIV in the USA
b) How this group interacted with other groups, in terms of its influence and ability to cooperate/collaborate
c) What was the impact of this person/group on the developing epidemic and what do we know about this community/person/group’s activities today with respect to HIV/AIDS?
Groups/People which will be assigned to you no later than the first day of class:
- Dr. William Foege and the CDC
Please note that all of these can be found in the book’s “index”, but you will need to read more of the book than just those pages listed in the index, to truly understand how these individuals or groups fit into the history of HIV/AIDS.
An important note: Page xvii: The Bureaucracy, is a fabulous overview of the “what’s what” and “who’s who” in US public health. One important update — in 1992, the “Centers for Disease Control” (CDC) changed its name to the “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention”, but kept its acronym, CDC.
Sample Solution
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