The Geography of AIDS

This volume examines these geographic patterns and discusses possible underlying conditions contributing to them. The book begins with a discussion of HIV, its structure, impact on the immune system and other parts of the body, and primary modes of transmission. From here it proceeds to the major theories and hypotheses offered for the geographic origin of the HIV. The complex African experience is presented next. Africa is particularly important because of high numbers of infected people and the potential destructive force of AIDS to many of the developing nations there. The progession of the HIV infection and AIDS through Europe and the United States is considered in subsequent chapters. The European experience may be traced to formerly strong colonial connections to sub-Saharan Africa and close ties to the United States. Data presented here on HIV infection and AIDS in the United States permit a close examination of the progress of the infection from major coastal metropolitan areas to smaller cities and the interior of the country. The authors show how ill-prepared our current health care system is to handle the problem and what changes need to be made. The concluding discussion is devoted to conceptualizing and modeling the spatial/temporal diffusion of the disease at the international as well as the national and local levels.\lt\