HIV AND AIDS

Editor: Justin Healey
ISBN 978 1 921507 33 5
Year 2011

Price: Print book $24.00
e-book (PDF) $20.00

 

HIV AND AIDS
Volume 322, Issues in Society

The AIDS epidemic has spread for almost 30 years. 33 million people are living with HIV worldwide and 28 million have died from an AIDS-related illness since 1981, mostly in Africa. A new HIV infection is diagnosed somewhere in the world every 7 seconds and someone dies from an AIDS-related illness every 11 seconds. Almost 17,000 people are living with HIV in Australia, and about 1000 become infected each year; over 6700 Australians have died from AIDS during the last 25 years. This book presents an overview of the history and prevalence of AIDS globally and in Australia, and explains the latest developments in HIV prevention and treatment. Key topics include: understanding the causes of transmission by this deadly virus; HIV prevention programs for specific communities and populations; HIV and safer sex practices; injecting drug use and needle exchange programs; HIV testing; drug treatments and the search for an AIDS cure; the experience of people living with HIV, including discrimination and disclosure issues. So many lives have been devastated by this disease – isn’t it better to be safe than sorry?