War in the Blood Sex, Politics and AIDS in Southeast Asia

by Beyrer, Chris

• ISBN13: 9781856495325
• ISBN10: 1856495329
• Format: Paperback
• 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

1. Introduction
2. Thailand: The Descending Bhudda, Thailand Now
3. Burma: Being in Myanmar, Going to Burma
4. Cambodia: AIDS and the Torn Society
5. Laos PDR: Travels in the Cold War
6. Malaysia: Ethnicity, Activism and AIDS
7. Vietnam: The Thai Model in Action
8. Yunnan: China's Southeast Asia
9. Women: Wvies, Mothers, Daughters
10. The Flesh Trade: Prostitution and Trafficking in ASEAN
11. Military Studies
12. Chasing the Dragon: Heroin and AIDS
13. Tribes: The Virus that Kills the Gods
14. Other Genders: Katoeys, Waria, Hinjras, Toms and Dees
15. Chaai Chuay Chaai: Men Helping Men
16. Prisons and Prisoners
17. The Media
18. Activists
19. Drugs Wars and the War on Drugs
20. Medical Ethics, Human Rights, Asian Values
21. Democracy, Empowerment, and Health
22. Conclusion: Condoms or Landmines