COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS, APRIL 2015\The emergence of AIDS in the 1980s sparked one of the most disruptive events in modern times. The pandemic has not only killed millions worldwide, but it has also profoundly altered our approach to sexuality, doctor-patient relations, the influence of civil society in international relations, and northern hemisphere/southern hemisphere solidarity. It thrust health firmly to the fore of national and international politics, where it so rightly belongs.
In AIDS: Between Science and Politics I had the unique opportunity to reflect on my experience as a scientist-clinician, as founding executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), and as an activist involved in the struggle against HIV/AIDS since the epidemic began. The book explains my fundamental belief that without political or economic relevance, science can bring little to people. Conversely, without scientific evidence and a respect for human rights, politics is ineffective and can even be harmful.
The first years of the AIDS epidemic were marked by the cruel stigmatization of those living with the disease (something that still exists today, albeit in sometimes subtler forms). But a powerful advocacy movement succeeded in slowly dispelling a fearful, reactionary, and often ...
