Confronting AIDS
Confronting AIDS

Author: National Academy of Sciences

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1986-02-01

Total Pages: 393

ISBN-13: 0309036992

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This volume examines the complex medical, social, ethical, financial, and scientific problems arising from the AIDS epidemic and offers dozens of public policy and research recommendations for an appropriate national response to this dread disease.

HIV and the Blood Supply
HIV and the Blood Supply

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1995-10-05

Total Pages: 349

ISBN-13: 0309053293

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During the early years of the AIDS epidemic, thousands of Americans became infected with HIV through the nation's blood supply. Because little reliable information existed at the time AIDS first began showing up in hemophiliacs and in others who had received transfusions, experts disagreed about whether blood and blood products could transmit the disease. During this period of great uncertainty, decision-making regarding the blood supply became increasingly difficult and fraught with risk. This volume provides a balanced inquiry into the blood safety controversy, which involves private sexual practices, personal tragedy for the victims of HIV/AIDS, and public confidence in America's blood services system. The book focuses on critical decisions as information about the danger to the blood supply emerged. The committee draws conclusions about what was doneâ€"and recommends what should be done to produce better outcomes in the face of future threats to blood safety. The committee frames its analysis around four critical area: Product treatmentâ€"Could effective methods for inactivating HIV in blood have been introduced sooner? Donor screening and referralâ€"including a review of screening to exlude high-risk individuals. Regulations and recall of contaminated bloodâ€"analyzing decisions by federal agencies and the private sector. Risk communicationâ€"examining whether infections could have been averted by better communication of the risks.

The Social Impact of AIDS in the United States
The Social Impact of AIDS in the United States

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1993-02-01

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 0309046289

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Europe's "Black Death" contributed to the rise of nation states, mercantile economies, and even the Reformation. Will the AIDS epidemic have similar dramatic effects on the social and political landscape of the twenty-first century? This readable volume looks at the impact of AIDS since its emergence and suggests its effects in the next decade, when a million or more Americans will likely die of the disease. The Social Impact of AIDS in the United States addresses some of the most sensitive and controversial issues in the public debate over AIDS. This landmark book explores how AIDS has affected fundamental policies and practices in our major institutions, examining: How America's major religious organizations have dealt with sometimes conflicting values: the imperative of care for the sick versus traditional views of homosexuality and drug use. Hotly debated public health measures, such as HIV antibody testing and screening, tracing of sexual contacts, and quarantine. The potential risk of HIV infection to and from health care workers. How AIDS activists have brought about major change in the way new drugs are brought to the marketplace. The impact of AIDS on community-based organizations, from volunteers caring for individuals to the highly political ACT-UP organization. Coping with HIV infection in prisons. Two case studies shed light on HIV and the family relationship. One reports on some efforts to gain legal recognition for nonmarital relationships, and the other examines foster care programs for newborns with the HIV virus. A case study of New York City details how selected institutions interact to give what may be a picture of AIDS in the future. This clear and comprehensive presentation will be of interest to anyone concerned about AIDS and its impact on the country: health professionals, sociologists, psychologists, advocates for at-risk populations, and interested individuals.

Report of Presidential Commission on the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Epidemic
Report of Presidential Commission on the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Epidemic

Author: James D. Watkins

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2017-10-28

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 9780265861936

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Excerpt from Report of Presidential Commission on the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Epidemic: Submitted to the President of the United States June 24, 1988 Even this incredible number, however, does not reflect the current gravity of the problem. One to million Americans are believed to be infected with the human immunodeficiency virus but are not yet ill enough to realize it. The recommendations of the Commission seek to strike a proper balance between our obligation as a society toward those members of society who have hiv and those members of society who do not have the virus. To slow or stop the spread of the virus, to provide proper medical care for those who have contracted the virus, and to protect the rights of both infected and non-infected persons requires a careful balancing of interests in a highly complex soci ety. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

AIDS at 30
AIDS at 30

Author: Victoria A. Harden

Publisher: Potomac Books, Inc.

Published: 2012-01-01

Total Pages: 342

ISBN-13: 1597972940

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Society was not prepared in 1981 for the appearance of a new infectious disease, but we have since learned that emerging and reemerging diseases will continue to challenge humanity. AIDS at 30 is the first history of HIV/AIDS written for a general audience that emphasizes the medical response to the epidemic. Award-winning medical historian Victoria A. Harden approaches the AIDS virus from philosophical and intellectual perspectives in the history of medical science, discussing the process of scientific discovery, scientific evidence, and how laboratories found the cause of AIDS and developed therapeutic interventions. Similarly, her book places AIDS as the first infectious disease to be recognized simultaneously worldwide as a single phenomenon. After years of believing that vaccines and antibiotics would keep deadly epidemics away, researchers, doctors, patients, and the public were forced to abandon the arrogant assumption that they had conquered infectious diseases. By presenting an accessible discussion of the history of HIV/AIDS and analyzing how aspects of society advanced or hindered the response to the disease, AIDS at 30 illustrates for both medical professionals and general readers how medicine identifies and evaluates new infectious diseases quickly and what political and cultural factors limit the medical community’s response.

And The Band Played on
And The Band Played on

Author: Randy Shilts

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2000-04-09

Total Pages: 666

ISBN-13: 9780312241353

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An investigative account of the medical, sexual, and scientific questions surrounding the spread of AIDS across the country.