Beyond Condoms: Alternative Approaches to HIV Prevention

by Ann O'Leary, PhD (Editor)

Overview

Our contemporary division of the progress of time should be delineated as B. A. E. (Before the AIDS Epidemic, i. e. , 1981) and P. A. E. Everyone keeps predicting the end of the epidemic, as Newsweek did in 1996 when combination therapy was introduced. But as far as we can tell from this vantage point, the virus continues, albeit a bit hobbled by a few drugs here and there, but moving forward nonetheless. Predictions are that over 100 million people will be infected with HIV by 2005. It is also clear that the number of people living with HIV in the US and other developed countries will continue to grow, as people with HIV live longer and better lives, but, paradoxically and perhaps as a result, the number of people acquiring HIV also continues to grow. HIV vaccines are at least 20, and perhaps 40 years away. When they do come on board, they may not prevent infection but may, instead, change the course of illness in those infected and hopefully render them less infectious. Further, the first vaccines will, in all likelihood, be less than 100% effective. The next generation of prevention strategies need to combine the best of biomedical, social, and behavioral approaches in order to protect the population. The male condom, along with reduction in the number of sexual partners or outright abstinence, have been the mainstay of HIV prevention.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780306467318
Publisher:	Springer US
Publication date:	02/28/2002
Edition description:	2002
Pages:	242
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.35(d)

Table of Contents

Negotiated Safety Agreements Among Gay Men.- Structural Barriers and Facilitators in HIV Prevention: A Review of International Research.- Female-Controlled Prevention Technologies.- STD Diagnosis and Treatment as an HIV Prevention Strategy.- HIV Treatment Advances as Prevention.- The Abstinence Strategy for Reducing Sexual Risk Behavior.- Assessing the Cost-effectiveness of Alternative Approaches to HIV Prevention.- “Gray Area Behaviors” and Partner Selection Strategies.- Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors as a Treatment for Sexual Compulsivity.- Prevention Triage: Optimizing Multiple HIV Intervention Strategies.

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Srijana M. Bajracharya, PhD, CHES (Ithaca College)
Description: From the time HIV became one of the biggest public health threats and its modes of transmission were understood, the condom has played a crucial role in the prevention of this disease. However, it is not the ultimate answer for this problem. In this book, the authors have diligently provided a variety of alternative protective methods that, if refined and modified, can supplement existing preventive strategies eventually reducing the current rate of HIV transmission around the world.
Purpose: The purpose is to provide a variety of options for HIV prevention and stimulate ideas for the future improvement for these methods in order to reduce or stop the spread of HIV. These are essential objectives and the book comes very close to meeting them.
Audience: Prevention specialists, biomedical scientists, health educators, psychologists, and public health professionals working in various at-risk communities can use this book.
Features: Since the inception of the HIV epidemic, the only approaches to combating this deadly disease have been prevention efforts and the use of various medications to lessen its severity. None of the three methods of prevention — condom, abstinence, and reducing sexual partners — is 100 percent effective. In order to provide additional options and to satisfy a wide range of community needs, the authors have presented challenging approaches based on sociopsychological, behavioral, political, as well as biomedical research. They have not only provided detailed descriptions of each of these approaches, but also in-depth analyses of their effectiveness, weaknesses, future outlook, and possible scientific course of action. There are 10 chapters contributed by 21 authors. The book starts with a chapter entitled "Negotiated Safety," an approach that applies primarily to gay men. It is concerned with the issue of psychological trust, an approach that may be both cost-effective as well as likely to gain acceptance among a specific group of people. The second chapter focuses on the international challenge of using more vigorous structural, political, and social changes. The chapter on abstinence includes a detailed analysis of evaluative studies on its effectiveness and recommendations for future intervention. Programs that are effective and the evaluative studies that are scientifically valid are presented using numerous examples. The strengths of each of these articles is the in-depth analysis of HIV prevention options using extensive resources and presentation of further plans for research and intervention. The articles are well written and comprehensive.
Assessment: Most of the HIV prevention options are well known and have been used, but such a comprehensive analysis was nonexistent. Consideration of these options as supplemental to, and even replacement for, some of the traditional HIV prevention methods is extremely innovative and worthy of discussion. Professionals from a variety of disciplines can make use of this publication and consider these options in their fight against HIV around the world.

Doody's Review Service

Arguing that a one-size-fits-all approach to HIV prevention that relies on promoting the consistent use of the male condom may not be the most effective approach to public health, O'Leary (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA) presents ten chapters exploring different strategies in domestic and international contexts. Ranging from obvious measures, like trying to find prevention technologies under the control of women, to more controversial suggestions such as pharmacological "treatment" of those "who suffer from sexual self- control deficits," government strategies are explored. Other chapters look at grassroots prevention strategies actually practiced and attempt to assess their relative merits. No effort is made to address the wider societal issues such as poverty and malnutrition that contribute to the epidemic. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)