To End a Plague
America's Fight to Defeat AIDS in Africa
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- R$ 94,90
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- R$ 94,90
Publisher Description
Shortlisted for the Lionel Gelber Prize
“Randy Shilts and Laurie Garrett told the story of the HIV/AIDS epidemic through the late 1980s and the early 1990s, respectively. Now journalist-historian-activist Emily Bass tells the story of US engagement in HIV/AIDS control in sub-Saharan Africa. There is far to go on the path, but Bass tells us how far we’ve come.” —Sten H. Vermund, professor and dean, Yale School of Public Health
With his 2003 announcement of a program known as PEPFAR, George W. Bush launched an astonishingly successful American war against a global pandemic. PEPFAR played a key role in slashing HIV cases and AIDS deaths in sub-Saharan Africa, leading to the brink of epidemic control. Resilient in the face of flatlined funding and political headwinds, PEPFAR is America’s singular example of how to fight long-term plague—and win.
To End a Plague is not merely the definitive history of this extraordinary program; it traces the lives of the activists who first impelled President Bush to take action, and later sought to prevent AIDS deaths at the whims of American politics. Moving from raucous street protests to the marbled halls of Washington and the clinics and homes where Ugandan people living with HIV fight to survive, it reveals an America that was once capable of real and meaningful change—and illuminates imperatives for future pandemic wars. Exhaustively researched and vividly written, this is the true story of an American moonshot.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bass, a journalist and AIDS activist, debuts with a granular yet wide-ranging history of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), "the largest disease-specific foreign aid effort in the history of and the world." She notes that President George W. Bush announced the program in the same 2003 State of the Union speech in which he outlined justifications for the invasion of Iraq; details the activism that forced drug companies to significantly reduce the price of HIV/AIDS medication, making large-scale treatment programs in low-income countries possible; and explains the origins of a "conscience clause" exempting faith-based groups that receive PEPFAR funds from providing "any services or commodities," including condoms, that run counter to their beliefs. Drawing on multiple visits she made to Uganda between 2005 and 2019, Bass profiles patients, nurses, and doctors, and documents the logistical and cultural challenges to halting the AIDS epidemic in Africa. She also documents Deborah Birx's efforts to revitalize PEPFAR with a data-driven approach after funding for the program hit an "all-time low" in 2013. Bass's personal reflections occasionally distract from the larger story, and the level of detail may be overwhelming for generalists. Still, readers with a background in the subject will consider this essential.