The Invisible Cure: Why We Are Losing the Fight Against AIDS in Africa

This is not the kind of book I would have ever thought to just pick up for myself. I live - literally - half a world away from the people and places described in this book; and my career life has been focused on alleviating a very different kind of suffering - that of families caught up in the public child welfare system. I had a chance meeting with the author, she asked for my cooperation in researching a story on child welfare, and I thought I'd read her book just to gain some insight into her thinking and worldview. The Invisible Cure is gripping, compulsively readable, and resonated deeply with me in ways I did not expect. For anyone who has felt the frustration of challenging the prevailing orthodoxy in their own line of work, for anyone who has struggled to undertand how politics and greed can infect and corrupt even the most honorably motivated humanitarian projects, and for anyone who believes in the power and potential of grassroots community organizing as the most effective solution to community problems, this book is informatiive, affirming, and ultimately inspiring and uplifting, despite the grim subject matter. Highly recommended.

The most important book published on AIDS in a long time, and one of the most important books of the year. If you liked Rachel Carson's Silent Spring or And The Band Played On, you will love this book. It is readable, impassioned and brilliant, and despite its savage denunciation of the failures of the West to deal with the AIDS crisis, it is an essentially optimistic work. Publishers Weekly in a starred review said it will save lives, and that is not hyperbole. I urge anyone who is interested in the greatest medical crisis of our time; anyone who is interested in Africa; anyone who is outraged by the failure of the UN, the WHO and the Bush administration to deal with this tragedy, to buy this book and give it to your friends. It is the kind of book that will change peoples' minds and will move continents. It will be read for years to come...

Not what I was looking for so I'm going to return the book

Epstein does a great job intertwining her own story into the history of the epidemic in the late 80s-present day. There is a lot of technical and personal information presented throughout which allows the reader to learn and empathize. This book is for public health junkies, people interested in the HIV/AIDS and also people who are interested in learning more about controversial topics. A very good read, my only complaint and the reason for 4 stars is that the flow of the book can feel choppy at points.

For anyone interested in HIV/AIDS in Africa, this is a must-read. Although formally trained as a molecular biologist, Helen Epstein is an excellent writer and paints an accurate picture of the history of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa, with a specific focus on Uganda, East Africa, and Southern Africa. A very moving book that helps us realize the ways in which we will end this horrible disease have little to do with big pharma and a western-centered solution.

Before the international aid agencies got there, the Ugandans got it right. Thereafter, the more aid, the more HIV infections grew. What's wrong with this picture?Great book! I'd love an updated edition.

slightly used but still nicely kept. Had a sticker on the front that covered most of the cover so it was hard taking that off. otherwise it arrived on time and was very useful to me.

Interesting but out of date

Loved this book!Read in 24 hours, although fiction I read it as part of my public health course reading list!

Also did not receive the book too. Still very disappointed. Waited for almost 2 months too still no book so sad