AIDS kills over two million people every year and nearly 33 million people are infected with HIV worldwide. However, HIV prevention has slipped down the international agenda and meaningful attempts to tackle it are hampered by religious ideology and power struggles.

This book brings together stories from around the world that explore and expose the underlying ‘politics of prevention’ which deny millions of people life-saving education. The larger issues and trends in the global fight against AIDS are also studied, including the rise of the controversial abstinence-only movement in the US, which is now being exported to Africa.

In response to the unfavourable political climate, those worst affected by the crisis are becoming politicised in order to overcome the inertia in the international community and take truly effective action against AIDS.