Taboos and denial in government responses |
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| Authors: | DENNIS ALTMAN |
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| Institution: | Professor of Politics at LaTrobe University, Melbourne, Australia, and President of the AIDS Society of Asia and the Pacific. He is currently a visiting Professor at Harvard University. He is the author of Power and community: organisational and cultural responses to AIDS;(1994), AIDS and the new Puritanism (1986), and Homosexual: oppression and liberation (1973). His most recent book Global sex (2001), is being translated into five languages. |
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| Abstract: | The most striking fact about HIV/AIDS is that it continues to spread even when the means of prevention are well known and do not demand costly technology to implement. This article argues that the fundamental barriers to effective prevention are social and cultural, and that many authorities place more emphasis on preserving traditional norms and social arrangements than on saving lives. The case is argued with particular reference to the impact of globalization on sexual behaviours, and the attempts by conservatives to deny existing behaviours and vulnerabilities. Current debates around abstinence, homosexuality and harm minimization are discussed to demonstrate the deeply political nature of HIV prevention. |
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