HIV and AIDS in 2030: A Choice Between Two Futures
Foreword by Jonathan D. Quick, MD, MPH, Author, The End of Epidemics
HIV and AIDS in 2030: A Choice Between Two Futures tells the story of the future of HIV and AIDS. In fact, it is a story about two very different futures; one in which HIV and AIDS have made a strong resurgence during the 2020’s, and one in which HIV and AIDS have been eliminated as threats to public health by 2030. In each future, there will be an AIDS conference with a panel of experts looking back on the fifty-year history of HIV and AIDS. But what will the panelists say? If HIV and AIDS have made a strong resurgence in the 2020s, the panel will be called How We Lost the War Against AIDS, and the panelists will focus on the mistakes that led to a tragic humanitarian failure. But if HIV and AIDS are no longer threats to public health, the panel will be called How We Won the War Against AIDS, and the panelists will celebrate the wise decisions that led to a remarkable humanitarian triumph. Which future will we see? Now is the time to choose.
Fifty-percent of the profits from book sales will be donated to charities helping to win the war against AIDS.
Print and electronic copies available at major booksellers.
David Barstow deftly combines the meticulous attention to order and detail that you would expect from a scientist with the persistence and passion for action you would expect from an activist.
From the Foreword by Dr. Jonathan D. Quick
Reviews
“While we have made enormous progress in the HIV response in many countries, we are not on track to end AIDS. Barstow’s book shows the critical juncture the global community faces in turning the tide on the epidemic. Barstow’s message is both startling and clear: we must act now to reboot and recharge our efforts to deliver sustainable results for people and communities across the world.”
“David Barstow’s book is a must read for anyone who cares about the world’s collective conscience and future. In creative and compelling fashion Barstow presents the stark choice and moral imperative that confronts us to not only reverse the HIV and AIDS crisis but to end it.”
“The HIV response has been one of the most successful in the history of public health. If we act now, we can get to the end. If we do not, history will not treat current policy makers well.”
“HIV, like a wolf at our door, doesn’t give up. David Barstow’s book lays out two possible storylines based on the two possible choices the world might make. One, is the ‘Doomsday’ scenario of terrible human suffering, and the other is the victorious ending where humanity ‘wins’ and the threat is averted. We can write this next chapter, but what will we write? The choice is ours to make.”
“The next decade will truly decide if we will end this epidemic in the U.S. and everywhere. It is a public health, public policy, and human rights imperative that Barstow knows well.”
“The World Council of Churches supports David Barstow’s book ‘HIV and AIDS in 2030: A Choice Between Two Futures’ and has chosen the future where the faith community remains faithful to ending HIV and AIDS because it is a moral and Biblical imperative.”
“If we needed a wake up call, here it is. Two Futures smacks its readers with the mirror Barstow wants us all to face, asking everyone to own up to her role in finally ending AIDS. And the legacy of HIV ultimately will have a ripple effect across multiple global health responses modeled after this success story, not only those affected by the disease and their allies. You have been warned.”
“David Barstow’s book represents the much awaited prophetic voice of global conscience, convening forum and advocacy platform for global collective action towards ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic with the fierce urgency of now!”
“Dr David Barstow has been unrelenting in his fight against HIV and AIDS related stigma and discrimination. In his book, ‘HIV and AIDS in 2030: A Choice Between Two Futures,’ he outlines the two possible trajectories. We, as faith communities, have a choice. We can win the battle if we stand and work together towards a future without AIDS. A future without AIDS is possible!!”
“We’ve made a commitment to bringing HIV and AIDS under control by 2030, and we know how. Not to do so is a policy choice—and a policy failure—with tragic consequences.”
“David Barstow imagines two futures: one where we succeed, and one where we do not. Success means saving millions of lives and will only happen if governments, civil society and the extensive faith community networks work together to mobilize policy and resources to bring HIV under control. We must keep our eye on the ball…”
“We must return to the sense of urgency and recharge our efforts. Barstow makes it clear the heavy price the world will pay for not doing so.”
“Thanks to a remarkable global effort, and the advocacy led by people living with HIV, we have made tremendous progress against HIV and AIDS. The end is in sight and we know how to get there. But as Barstow makes clear, we will only get there if we choose to do so and if we persist to the end. Faith leaders and communities are crucial to that choice and to that persistence.”
About the author, Dr. David R. Barstow
David R. Barstow is a computer scientist turned AIDS activist. After earning his PhD in Artificial Intelligence from Stanford University in 1977, David spent the next thirty years as a college professor, industrial research scientist and engineer, internet entrepreneur, and business consultant. A remark by Bono, the Irish rock star, at a 2006 Christian leadership conference prompted him to change directions. Since then David has focused his time and energy on strengthening the religious response to the AIDS epidemic. In 2007, he founded EMPACT Africa, a Christian non-profit dedicated to working with local faith leaders in southern Africa to address the stigma associated with HIV and AIDS. During the past decade, he has worked with numerous governmental, non-governmental, and faith-based organizations. Most recently, David worked with the World Council of Churches to coordinate the Common Voice initiative, an inter-religious movement of advocacy and action to end AIDS.
Barstow’s first sermon, Lusaka, Zambia, in 2008
Barstow at a pastor-training workshop in 2009
Barstow addresses the UN High Level Meeting on AIDS in 2016
“I remember sitting in our church, watching a video of Bono being interviewed. He wondered why it had taken so long for American Christians to respond to the AIDS crisis in Africa. Although he was talking about American Christians generally, I had this strange feeling like he was talking directly to me: why hadn’t I, David Barstow, responded to the AIDS crisis in Africa? It felt like a calling, and my faith wouldn’t let me ignore a calling. That was the moment when my life started to change, and it hasn’t stopped changing.”