Tinderbox: How the West Sparked the AIDS Epidemic and How the World Can Finally Overcome It

Inthisgroundbreakingnarrative,longtimeWashingtonPostreporterCraigTimbergandaward-winningAIDSresearcherDanielHalperintellthesurprisingstoryofhowWesterncolonialpowersunwittinglysparkedtheAIDSepidemicandthenfanneditsrise.Drawingonremarkablenewscience,Tinderboxoverturnstheconventionalwisdomontheoriginsofthisdeadlypandemicandthebestwaystofightittoday.RecentgeneticstudieshavetracedthebirthofHIVtotheforbiddingequatorialforestsofCameroon,wherechimpanzeescarriedthevirusformillenniawithoutcausingamajoroutbreakinhumans.DuringtheScrambleforAfrica,colonialcompaniesblazednewroutesthroughthejungleinsearchofrubberandotherriches,sendingAfricanportersintoremoteregionsrarelytraveledbefore.ItwasherethathumansfirstcontractedthestrainofHIVthatwouldeventuallycause99percentofAIDSdeathsaroundtheworld.Westernpowerswerekeyactorsinturningalocalizedoutbreakintoasprawlingepidemicasbustlingnewtraderoutes,moderncolonialcities,andtheriseofprostitutionspedthevirusacrossAfrica.Christianmissionariescampaignedtosuppresspolygamy,butleftinitsplacefracturedsexualculturesthatproveduncommonlyvulnerabletoHIV.EquallydevastatingwasthegraduallossoftheAfricanritualofmalecircumcision,whichrecentstudieshaveshownofferssignificantprotectionagainstinfection.TimbergandHalperinarguethatthesameWesternhubristhatmarkedthecolonialerahashamstrungtheefforttofightHIV.FromtheUnitedNationsAIDSprogramtotheBushadministration'shistoricreliefcampaign,globalhealthofficialshavefavoredwell-meaningWesternapproaches—abstinencecampaigns,condompromotion,HIVtesting—thathaveprovenineffectiveinslowingtheepidemicinAfrica.MeanwhiletheyhaveoverlookedhomegrownAfricaninitiativesaimedsquarelyatthebehaviorsspreadingthevirus.InarivetingnarrativethatstretchesfromcolonialLeopoldvilleto1980sSanFranciscotoSouthAfricatoday,Tinderboxrevealshowhumanhandsunleashedthisepidemicandcannowovercomeit,ifonlywelearnthelessonsofthepast.