news flash

I am on holiday. I am so on holiday. And I really needed and derserved this holiday. The last month has been too hectic to even blog. But I thought I would provide you with a little reading material in my absence which will give you sense of the stuff that tends to pile up in my inbox. What piles up in the inbox of a social science researcher who works around HIV/AIDS in Africa? Here are a few examples:

Uganda: High Income Causing HIV/Aids Spread - Onek

Yes, forget that link between AIDS and poverty. It's disposable income that's the problem! The point I draw from this is that one really can't think about HIV outside regimes of exchange (monetary and otherwise), but really, this kind of reporting makes me want to bang my head against the wall.

Flash-Heating Milk to Stop HIV Infection

Those wily Americans can fix anything with their fabulous technology! Heat n' serve breastmilk will solve the problem of maternal-to-child transmission! Nevermind that breastfeeding (and being seen to be breastfeeding) is a social activity. No, no... we don't care about the social! There's nothing in this article about the acceptability of heating your breastmilk, let alone the availability of clean glass jars and cooking fuel, or about the fact that being seen to be dumping your breastmilk in jars and heating could be just about as strange (and as stigmatizing) to the people around you as feeding your child formula. Maybe this is kind of harsh... I mean, these people aren't idiots, but I feel like they're barking up the wrong tree.