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WELLESLEY,
Mass. -- A new book, AIDS and South Africa: The Social
Expression of a Pandemic, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004)
edited by Wellesley College economics professors Kyle Kauffman
and David Lindauer, is the latest benefit to come from the
2002 Wellesley conference by the same name. The book addresses
the economic, social and cultural impact of HIV/AIDS as
it relates to South African society.
"In
many fundamental ways this volume reflects both the approach
and the spirit needed to address the challenge of HIV/AIDS
in South Africa," notes Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu,
who wrote the forward to the book. "There will not be one
solution to the AIDS pandemic. We need to fight this battle
on many fronts. We need to understand the politics, both
nationally and internationally, that have conditioned the
thus far inadequate response to HIV/AIDS. We need to anticipate
the economic consequences of the epidemic and to prepare
for them. We need to understand individual behaviour, especially
of our youth, that puts too many at risk. We need to promote
the activism required for change. This volume addresses
these critical elements."
Kauffman
and Lindauer aimed to examine these elements to try to turn
the tide.
"To
gain an understanding of the full social expression of this
pandemic requires addressing economics, politics, history,
culture and so on," they write. "Without looking at the
issues from a broad, multidisciplinary approach one could
not hope to: 1) explain the factors leading South Africa
to being the HIV/AIDS capital of the world; 2) understand
the economic costs to firms, household and society of the
pandemic; 3) recommend measures to prevent the spread of
the virus and to treat the millions of South Africans already
infected; or 4) learn lessons to prevent other countries
from facing their own AIDS tragedies."
For
more, go to www.palgrave.com/products/Catalogue.aspx?is=1-4039-1888-0
Since
1875, Wellesley College has been a leader in providing an
excellent liberal-arts education for women who will make
a difference in the world. Its 500-acre campus near Boston
is home to 2,300 undergraduate students from all 50 states
and 68 countries. For more information, go to www.wellesley.edu.
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