Emily Bass

In the 1990s, scientists made significant advances to limit the impact of HIV upon human lives… in the West. However, HIV continued to flourish in sub-Saharan Africa, and it remained for the new millennium to limit its reach there. Bass’s book tells the story of the American effort in this quest that spanned multiple presidencies across both political parties. She concludes with its impact on the COVID pandemic.

The effort to defeat HIV/AIDS is so large that any one author cannot hope to contain the entire story. Bass’s account is primarily political, sociological, and anthropological, not biological. She tells the stories of individuals on the ground in Africa along with leaders of the effort in the United States. Her story is not one of lab science but of the organized coordination of massive human effort. Her story centers on the American government (PEPFAR) and not the international Global Fund. She covers everything from activist efforts to bring the pandemic to the fore to the politics of passing a funding bill to its data-driven transformation under the leadership of Dr. Deborah Birx.

Due to a lack of investigative journalism, many books about HIV/AIDS neglect the story on the ground in Africa in favor of one around governmental and scientific efforts in America. Fortunately, Bass does not neglect these oft-ignored African voices but amplifies them with objective journalism and warm, human friendship. She seems to have de-identified the primary characters on the ground due to privacy concerns. The wide reach from politics to people is particularly welcoming because readers get to see the practical results of actions thousands of miles away.

This book will gain an audience especially among those interested in government and public health. Those interested in the health history of the 2000-2020 will also find interest in this book. Finally, those interested in how the rise of the data information sciences has affected human life practically will benefit from Bass’s writing. In 2021, AIDS seems much more contained than it was in 2001. Many people deserve credit for this, from George W. Bush to Barack Obama, from activists in America to healthcare workers on the ground in Africa. And as detailed here, the AIDS effort laid a foundation for COVID efforts even though these are different diseases, especially in their spread. Bass’s account brings this story to an accessible summary whereby we can all gain from it.… (mere)