War in the Blood

by Beyrer, Chris

• ISBN13: 9781856495318
• ISBN10: 1856495310
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1998-02-15
• Publisher: Zed Books

Summary

This engaging and vivid book investigates the course of the HIV epidemic in seven countries of South East Asia: Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Vietnam and China's Yunnan Province. Emphasising the impact of the cultural and political landscapes of these countries on the progress of the disease, the book is the product of both working and travelling in the area. Not merely a commentary on obfuscating government statistics, the author draws upon his encounters with people dealing with the effects of the epidemic and opponents of the regimes of the countries he describes. The epidemic is seen as being vitally linked to the general condition of human rights in the societies. In the first part of the book the author travels to each country in turn chronicling the different approaches adopted to the epidemic. The second part covers issues involving specific groups at risk - among other topics, women and contraception, prostitution and the traffic in women, HIV and the US military, the Heroin trade, gay sex workers, prisoners, and the work of local activists. The third part of the book looks at policy and the general effect of culture on public health care, stressing the need for local empowerment of populations, and in particular women, to effect social changes that would go hand in hand with improvements in the handling of the HIV epidemic. Both passionate and well-informed, this book is a labour of love that discusses the HIV epidemic while giving an intimate, and ultimately celebratory account of South East Asia and asserting the real possiblity for affirmative action.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Part One: Countries	1	(116)
1 Introduction	3	(13)
2 Thailand: the descending Buddha	16	(20)
3 Burma: going to Myanmar, being in Burma	36	(17)
4 Cambodia: AIDS and the torn society	53	(17)
5 Laos: travels in the Cold War	70	(15)
6 Malaysia: ethnicity, activism, and AIDS	85	(12)
7 Vietnam: the Thai model in action	97	(9)
8 Yunnan: China's Southeast Asia	106	(11)
Part Two: People, Risks	117	(78)
9 Women: wives, mothers, daughters	119	(9)
10 The flesh trade: prostitution and trafficking in ASEAN	128	(12)
11 Military studies	140	(7)
12 Chasing the dragon: heroin and AIDS	147	(8)
13 Tribes: the virus that kills the gods	155	(8)
14 Other genders: katoeys, waria, hinjras,toms and dees	163	(7)
15 Chaai chuay chaai: men helping men	170	(5)
16 Prisons and prisoners	175	(3)
17 The media	178	(8)
18 Activists	186	(9)
Part Three: Relativity and Culture	195	(30)
19 Drug wars and the war on drugs	197	(8)
20 Medical ethics, human rights, Asian values	205	(10)
21 Democracy, empowerment, and health	215	(7)
22 Conclusion: condoms or land-mines	222	(3)
Bibliography	225	(13)
Index	238