HIV virus is probably the most dreaded virus i

HIV virus is probably the most dreaded virus in modern times, and the disease that it causes - AIDS - has come to symbolize the latter-day plague. Despite the monumental attempts at finding a cure for AIDS or at least an HIV vaccine, this disease remains almost as intractable as when it first came to wide attention in the early 1980s. In the West AIDS remains the disease that is associated with socially marginalized groups, while globally its greatest impact is on poor countries, with the sub-Saharan Africa carrying the disproportionate number of victims. In the light of all of that all of us would be amiss if we did not get a better understanding of this dreadful disease. "HIV/AIDS - A Very Short Introduction" is a good book to learn the important facts about HIV/AIDS from.

The book is filled with a lot of statistical data and many charts. It provides an astute assessment of the prevalence and the spread of AIDS throughout the world. It deals with various social, political and economic aspects of AIDS and the author covers these topics in great detail. This is a particularly good book to read if you are interested in the public policy aspects of the AIDS epidemic.

Knowing how important a book like this is for educating public about the most important facts about AIDS, it would seem uncharitable to point out its flaws. Nonetheless, here are a few issues that I had with the book and points that I think could be improved.