AIDS in the World: Global Report on Epidemic

The Global AIDS Policy Coalition at Harvard University has
published AIDS in the World, A Global Report, a 1038-page
examination of AIDS from a global perspective. Edited by
Jonathan Mann, Daniel J. M. Tarantola, and Thomas W. Netter, each
section is written by an expert in that field, offering
different, well-informed perspectives.

The section on treatments for HIV and AIDS was compiled with
help from AIDS TREATMENT NEWS, and offers a review of research
achievements, treatment politics, and an index of available
treatments, both pharmaceutical and alternative. The book also
emphasizes human rights, and the effects of AIDS on developing
countries. For example, one section calculated the cost of AZT
around the world in terms of per capita gross national product --
from 14 percent in the U. S. to 500 percent in Rwanda, Uganda,
and many other countries.

AIDS in the World projects that up to 108 million people
will be infected with HIV by the year 2000. This figure is
controversial because the World Health Organization (WHO)
predicts between 30 and 40 million. The difference is important
because it affects the allocation of resources to HIV services.
The Harvard group used the Delphi method, "a technique for
reaching expert consensus on estimates for which no correct
answer can be ascertained." The Delphi method is based on
written estimates from experts who do not know the identities of
the other experts involved. The WHO estimates were presumably
based more closely on officially reported figures.

The book costs $22.95 paperback, $45.00 hard cover, and can
be ordered from Harvard University Press, phone 617/495-2577, or
fax 617/495-8924. Outside of the United States call their London
office at 44-71-404-0712, or fax 44-71-404-0601.