Infections and Inequalities

The Modern Plagues

De: Paul Farmer

Narrado por: Derek Shoales

Paul Farmer has battled AIDS in rural Haiti and deadly strains of drug-resistant tuberculosis in the slums of Peru. A physician-anthropologist with more than fifteen years in the field, Farmer writes from the front lines of the war against these modern plagues and shows why, even more than those of history, they target the poor. This "peculiarly modern inequality" that permeates AIDS, TB, malaria, and typhoid in the modern world, and that feeds emerging (or re-emerging) infectious diseases such as Ebola and cholera, is laid bare in Farmer's harrowing memoir rife with stories about diseases and human suffering.

Farmer points out that most current explanatory strategies, from "cost-effective treatment" to patient "noncompliance," inevitably lead to blaming the victims. In reality, larger forces, global as well as local, determine why some people are sick and others are shielded from risk. Farmer writes of what can be done in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds, by physicians and medical students determined to treat those in need: whether in their home countries or through medical outreach programs like Doctors without Borders. Infections and Inequalities weds meticulous scholarship in medical anthropology with a passion for solutions—remedies for the plagues of the poor and the social illnesses that have sustained them.

©1999 The Regents of the University of California (P)2022 Tantor

We will miss you and your wonderful writing doctor Paul!

This book is accessible in its language and inspiring in its message that it doesn’t have to be this way!

persistent poverty perpetuates the disease

author has discussed very important issue Treatment of infectious diseases is ignored on the economical and political basis The inequality widens when it is said MDR TB is tractablefor rich and not for the poor.

Important book, mispronunciations disappointing

This is a (sadly) timeless work by the late Dr Farmer who did so much to shed light on and work towards equity in treatment of infections globally. A must read for those working in healthcare, public health, and beyond.

On a performance note, I was disappointed by the mispronunciation of a handful of words related to clinical/medical field and at one point even a country (Tanzania). Seems like an obvious oversight on the part of audiobook production and left me feeling annoyed at the irony that further care was not taken to ensure correct pronunciation in this work that has a core message of how little we regard and provide less than standard care to those most in need.

Very good substance read

It was a little dense for me to listen to, but i enjoyed the material and appreciated the subject