Description: Historically, the disciplines of public health and human rights have remained largely separate. The AIDS pandemic changed how we perceive the complex relationship between human rights, public health and the communicable disease. Women and children, often lacking even basic human rights, are highly vulnerable to infection with HIV due to their inability to protect themselves in intimate relationships, their sexual exploitation, and their lack of economic and educational alternatives. Coercive government policies aimed at controlling the AIDS pandemic often infringe on the rights of individuals known or suspected of having AIDS and decrease the effectiveness of public health measures. In many settings protecting and promoting human rights becomes one of the key means of protecting individuals and groups from AIDS.

We, as a society, have much to learn from the international response to AIDS; it has changed our approach to public health problems and our perception of human rights and their relationship to the health of people and populations. If we can integrate these lessons into our AIDS policies, as well as our health care, social, economic, and political frameworks, we will be better prepared to detect and perhaps prevent the next pandemic of deadly disease.

Gostin and Lazzarini have written a book that will be a valuable addition to the libraries of public health professionals, policy makers, public-rights activists, medical law and nursing students, and informed general readers.

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