Craig Timberg
Author of Tinderbox: How the West Sparked the AIDS Epidemic and How the World Can Finally Overcome It
Works by Craig Timberg
Tinderbox: How the West Sparked the AIDS Epidemic and How the World Can Finally Overcome It (2012) 89 copies, 5 reviews
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Tinderbox: How the West Sparked the AIDS Epidemic and How the World Can Finally Overcome It by Craig Timberg
Definitely an eye-opening challenge to conventional wisdom regarding how best to handle the AIDS epidemic in Africa!
I picked up this book because I was primarily interested in the new understanding it details of how HIV originated and spread from Central Africa to the rest of the world. But that's only the first quarter or so of the book. The rest is a history of how (in the authors' opinion) the West has substantially mishandled the way we deal with AIDS in Africa.
The book feels very show more one-sided - which is completely understandable, given the purpose the authors had in writing it. Still, I found myself wishing that they would better explain why so many experts in the field disagree with their arguments, beyond just citing the "AIDS Industrial Complex" and writing off disagreements as vested interests. Then again, the conventional wisdom on AIDS is, well - conventional. It's thoroughly documented in the subject literature elsewhere. The purpose of this book is to give voice to alternative understandings of AIDS that haven't been given much presence there.
At heart, I think this book makes some very good points. Especially the belief that one cannot understand the movement of HIV through a community without understanding the underlying sexual behaviors of that community. As non-PC as that might be, and as much as it opens a dangerous door for morality police to step in, it's still true. And it's the one major piece of the puzzle that the West has largely neglected in its relationship to AIDS in Africa. show less
I picked up this book because I was primarily interested in the new understanding it details of how HIV originated and spread from Central Africa to the rest of the world. But that's only the first quarter or so of the book. The rest is a history of how (in the authors' opinion) the West has substantially mishandled the way we deal with AIDS in Africa.
The book feels very show more one-sided - which is completely understandable, given the purpose the authors had in writing it. Still, I found myself wishing that they would better explain why so many experts in the field disagree with their arguments, beyond just citing the "AIDS Industrial Complex" and writing off disagreements as vested interests. Then again, the conventional wisdom on AIDS is, well - conventional. It's thoroughly documented in the subject literature elsewhere. The purpose of this book is to give voice to alternative understandings of AIDS that haven't been given much presence there.
At heart, I think this book makes some very good points. Especially the belief that one cannot understand the movement of HIV through a community without understanding the underlying sexual behaviors of that community. As non-PC as that might be, and as much as it opens a dangerous door for morality police to step in, it's still true. And it's the one major piece of the puzzle that the West has largely neglected in its relationship to AIDS in Africa. show less
Tinderbox : how the West sparked the AIDS epidemic and how the world can finally overcome it by Craig Timberg
Well written and interesting, though certainly written with an agenda. The information on circumcision and continuous breast feeding was compelling, some of the other information seemed less well supported and their criticism of Peter piot is, I think, unwarranted
Tinderbox: How the West Sparked the AIDS Epidemic and How the World Can Finally Overcome It by Craig Timberg
I found this a useful summary of recent advances in our understanding of HIV, its origins, and its prevention. I read it after Epstein's [b:The Invisible Cure: Africa, the West, and the Fight Against AIDS|372575|The Invisible Cure Africa, the West, and the Fight Against AIDS|Helen Epstein|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1311991949s/372575.jpg|362510], which covers some of the same points. Together they provide a good update or review. Add Dow and Essex's [b:Saturday Is for show more Funerals|7770692|Saturday Is for Funerals|Unity Dow|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1270158804s/7770692.jpg|10662592] and you've got a pretty good seminar reading list.
I read Tinderbox because I was on my way to sub-Saharan Africa for an HIV seminar and I wanted to be sure my knowledge was up to date. Of as much interest as the book were the significant number of vituperative reviews on Amazon. I can't comment on those that accused Timberg and Halperin of writing a worse book than Pepin's [b:The Origins of AIDS|12242615|The Origins of AIDS|Jacques Pepin|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327938184s/12242615.jpg|17216800], since I haven't yet read it. A few reviewers assert that only condoms prevent AIDS. I will merely say that this simply isn't true and move on. The troubling reviews go like this: Halperin is falsely representing male circumcision as an effective HIV prevention technique because he is Jewish and has the agenda of somehow Judaizing Africa. Some of these reviews are quite anti-Semitic.
As I say, I was in sub-Saharan Africa, so I thought I'd ask. Specifically, I asked several experts, ranging from government health representatives to heads of medical centers treating HIV. Here's a typical conversation:
Me: "A new book in the US supports male circumcision, saying that it decreases HIV acquisition by the circumcised males."
Expert: "Yes, this is true. The foreskin has receptors that HIV attaches to easily, so circumcision decreases the male's likelihood of becoming HIV ."
Me: "Some people in the US believe that the results of the Orange Farm study are not statistically valid. They say that the one of the authors is promoting male circumcision for religious reasons."
Expert: [Puzzled frown.]
Me: "They say that because he is Jewish he is trying to convert Africans to Judaism."
Expert: 1) "Do they not know that Islamic men are circumcised?" or 2) "But that wouldn't make a man Jewish" or 3) "Actually, many of the groups in this region practiced adolescent circumcision prior to the introduction of Christianity" or 4) [bewildered stare].
Me: "So if I were to reply to these allegations, what would you like me to say?"
Expert: "We would like you to say that African medical professionals are satisfied with the results of the Orange Farm study."
There you go. I'm not going to post it on Amazon, but I report it here. And I'm not going to argue about it. show less
I read Tinderbox because I was on my way to sub-Saharan Africa for an HIV seminar and I wanted to be sure my knowledge was up to date. Of as much interest as the book were the significant number of vituperative reviews on Amazon. I can't comment on those that accused Timberg and Halperin of writing a worse book than Pepin's [b:The Origins of AIDS|12242615|The Origins of AIDS|Jacques Pepin|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327938184s/12242615.jpg|17216800], since I haven't yet read it. A few reviewers assert that only condoms prevent AIDS. I will merely say that this simply isn't true and move on. The troubling reviews go like this: Halperin is falsely representing male circumcision as an effective HIV prevention technique because he is Jewish and has the agenda of somehow Judaizing Africa. Some of these reviews are quite anti-Semitic.
As I say, I was in sub-Saharan Africa, so I thought I'd ask. Specifically, I asked several experts, ranging from government health representatives to heads of medical centers treating HIV. Here's a typical conversation:
Me: "A new book in the US supports male circumcision, saying that it decreases HIV acquisition by the circumcised males."
Expert: "Yes, this is true. The foreskin has receptors that HIV attaches to easily, so circumcision decreases the male's likelihood of becoming HIV ."
Me: "Some people in the US believe that the results of the Orange Farm study are not statistically valid. They say that the one of the authors is promoting male circumcision for religious reasons."
Expert: [Puzzled frown.]
Me: "They say that because he is Jewish he is trying to convert Africans to Judaism."
Expert: 1) "Do they not know that Islamic men are circumcised?" or 2) "But that wouldn't make a man Jewish" or 3) "Actually, many of the groups in this region practiced adolescent circumcision prior to the introduction of Christianity" or 4) [bewildered stare].
Me: "So if I were to reply to these allegations, what would you like me to say?"
Expert: "We would like you to say that African medical professionals are satisfied with the results of the Orange Farm study."
There you go. I'm not going to post it on Amazon, but I report it here. And I'm not going to argue about it. show less
Tinderbox: How the West Sparked the AIDS Epidemic and How the World Can Finally Overcome It by Craig Timberg
A book in two parts. The first being a history of colonial Africa, and how the already brutal management of the Cameroon and the Congo may have contributed to the spread of AIDS- some hunter might have gone for bush meat in the 1900s, and got a cut while handling the corpse. Entirely plausible, and it does correlate with recent genetic studies.
The latter, longer part discusses the current spread of AIDS. The authors studiously using the word 'pandemic', as the spread has been extremely show more uneven. There is an incredible array of factors here, from social networks to government programs and awareness through prominent musicians.
As for solutions, the authors provide several. Their big magical silver bullet is male circumcision, which seems controversial at best- I distinctly recall some papers saying it was not effective at all - I'll cite them when I have a computer and not my phone. That and I'm not sure how easily all the non-Bantus can be convinced. And what about the differences between American and Western European rates?
The overview is worth it though. I'll rely on another history to corroborate though.
EDIT: I did find the one study which says circumcision had no effect. However, I also found a meta-analysis which demonstrates a major effect across several studies. So I retract my previous point and add a star. But although this has a positive effect on males, how are women properly prepared? Answers beget questions.
http://journals.lww.com/aidsonline/Abstract/2000/10200/Male_circumcision_and_ris... show less
The latter, longer part discusses the current spread of AIDS. The authors studiously using the word 'pandemic', as the spread has been extremely show more uneven. There is an incredible array of factors here, from social networks to government programs and awareness through prominent musicians.
As for solutions, the authors provide several. Their big magical silver bullet is male circumcision, which seems controversial at best- I distinctly recall some papers saying it was not effective at all - I'll cite them when I have a computer and not my phone. That and I'm not sure how easily all the non-Bantus can be convinced. And what about the differences between American and Western European rates?
The overview is worth it though. I'll rely on another history to corroborate though.
EDIT: I did find the one study which says circumcision had no effect. However, I also found a meta-analysis which demonstrates a major effect across several studies. So I retract my previous point and add a star. But although this has a positive effect on males, how are women properly prepared? Answers beget questions.
http://journals.lww.com/aidsonline/Abstract/2000/10200/Male_circumcision_and_ris... show less
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