In the ten years since the first cases of AIDS were reported, the disease has spread around the world. Every country has had to come up with policies suited to its own conditions, economy, culture, and institutions. The differences among their approaches are striking. This volume, the first international comprehensive comparison of responses to AIDS, is a unique guide to the world's most urgent public health crisis.

Sixteen leading experts in public health, social science, government, and public policy from USA, Canada, Germany, Australia, Spain, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and Japan candidly recount and analyze the responses of their own nations and comment on the lessons that can be drawn from each country's experience. For each country, they look critically at the tragic statistics of AIDS incidence; the circumstances of AIDS's first appearance; public health traditions of mandatory screening, contact tracing, and quarantine; attitudes toward drug abuse, homosexuality, sex education; publicity about AIDS; legal and customary protections of civil rights, minority groups, medical confidentiality; access to health care and insurance; and the interplay of formal and informal interest groups in shaping policy. The spectrum of AIDS policy ranges from severe "contain-and-control" programs to much more liberal plans based on education, cooperation, and inclusion.

No matter what policy a nation has constructed to deal with AIDS, the coming decade will test how well that policy conforms to democratic ideals. By scrutinizing the responses to AIDS so far, this book aims to give countries around the world a chance to learn from each others' mistakes and triumphs. It will be essential reading for all students and professionals in public health and public policy.

From Publishers Weekly
Bayer, staff member of a policy studies center in New York State, here reviews the record of public agencies in dealing with AIDS-created biological, social and political problems, including resolution of conflicts between privacy and the public good. He notes the contradiction between Centers for Disease Control recommendations of counseling, education and broad-scale voluntary testing of all Americans at risk, and federal policies that favor mandatory testing of the military, marriage applicants, hospital workers, patients and prostitutes, among others, and quarantine of AIDS carriers advocated by some states. Bayer recommends restraint by individuals in sexual matters and drug use, accompanied by an assault on the economic and social problems that underlie the epidemic, especially as regards the newborn and teenagers. In the growing body of AIDS literature, this is a valuable fact-finding study that should interest a lay as well as professional audience. 

From Library Journal
Bayer's topic is the politically charged dilemma AIDS presents to public health officials and policymakers. What steps can be taken which will not only protect society at large, but also safeguard the privacy and civil liberties of individuals? The author ably traces the political history of AIDS. He suggests a responsible but nonauthoritarian approach, combining education; health care access for IV users; promotion of anonymous, confidential screening; defense of victims' rights; appropriate contact notification programs; and moderate laws protecting society from malicious individuals. This work is well-documented and cogently argued. Highly recommended for all academic collections and larger public libraries.