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Until the Cure: Caring for Women with AIDS
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Ann Kurth; ed. 327 pages. New Haven; Connecticut: Yale University Press; 1993. $16.00.
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Women and AIDS: Psychological Perspectives
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Corinne Squire. 196 pages. London: Sage Publications; 1993. $19.95.
The number of cases of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) reported among women is increasing four times faster than that reported among men. Each of these books is a collection of chapters written by a cadre of authors, mostly women, many of them physicians, who are on the frontline of AIDS treatment and research. Why is it necessary to discuss women's care specifically? Because of the rapidly increasing incidence among women and because many women feel that previous care of women with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection has been inferior in most aspects compared with that available to men.
Ann Kurth, MPH, has written a comprehensive review of women and HIV disease. Other discussants focus on "Trends in Federally Sponsored Trials" (which are improving with respect to women), "Legal Considerations," and some specifically female concerns such as gynecologic and obstetric care. The chapters are usually preceded by poignant quotations from women with AIDS. The book includes a list of resources and a bibliography.
Squire's book is also multiauthored, primarily by psychologists, a few of whom use jargon unfamiliar to nonpsychologists. Included is a fascinating chapter "‘Tossing’ and ‘Tweaking’" by Anne Lown, Karen Winkler, Robert Fullilove, and Mindy Fullilove, which explains unequivocally the relevance of the crack epidemic to the spread of AIDS. In crack houses, sex is bartered for drugs—"tossin'" is the sexual activity, and its price is as low as $3.00, that is, the cost of a vial of crack. "Tweakin'" refers to the "peculiar twitching that accompanies the crack high"
The topics and perspectives in the Squire book are, as expected, less medical than in Kurth's book, but anyone wanting an overview of the enormous, far-reaching problems of the AIDS epidemic and the particular needs of women should consider reading both. The prices are right.
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