The Wisdom of Whores

Starred review from May 1, 2008
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 unpopularbut evidence-baseddecisions. 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, "LJ" 2/1/08; visit the author online at www.ternyata.org/about/index.html.Ed.]Janet A. Crum, Oregon Health & Science Univ. Lib., Portland

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