Samuel R. Friedman, a researcher at the National Development and Research Institutes, Inc. (NDRI) in the United States, and his colleagues from across the globe identify the important social research issues related to the global HIV epidemic with the hope that funders, public and private organizations, individual researchers, and the general public can assemble the knowledge necessary before developments overwhelm our ability to respond. Massive disruption of existing social and risk networks and patterns could easily facilitate or impede HIV transmission. The authors discuss global warming, wars, ecological or economic disruptions, governmental policies, emerging biomedical interventions, viral evolution, and social disorganization as examples of the type of large scale changes that must be studied.
"While not as scientifically straightforward as typical HIV investigations, we ignore these issues at our future peril," noted Dr. Friedman. "Cross disciplinary and multidisciplinary studies are essential in these studies," he added.
Friedman, SR, et al, "Emerging future issues in HIV/AIDS social research," AIDS 2006, Vol. 20, No. 7, April 23, 2006, pp. 1-5. Supported by NIH Grants RO1 DA13336, RO1 DA13128, P30 DA11041, RO1 DA13128S, DA42 TW001037-06.
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