NASP International and Interdisciplinary Seminars

Jenny Trinitapoli (University of Chicago)

An Epidemic of Uncertainty

Chair: Gabriele Ballarino (NASP - University of Milan)
Discussant: Floriane Bolazzi (University of Milan-Bicocca)

10th June 2022, h. 14.30
Room B - NASP Graduate School
Via Pace 10 Milan 
and on Zoom

Abstract:
After a four-decades-long battle against HIV, the standard global-health metrics have started to point to good news: new infections are down, prevalence has stabilized, life-saving antiretroviral drugs are widely available, mother-to-child transmission is lower than ever, and AIDS-related mortality has declined. But in the wake of pandemic AIDS, an epidemic of uncertainty persists. In Malawi, adult prevalence of HIV has been steady at roughly 14% since 2000; yet at any given point in time, half the young-adult population doesn't know their HIV status. I argue that AIDS-related uncertainty is measurable, pervasive, and impervious to biomedical solutions. The consequences of uncertainty are pertinent to multiple domains of life including relationship stability, fertility, health, and well-being. Even as HIV is transformed from a progressive, fatal infection to a chronic and manageable condition, the accompanying epidemic of uncertainty remains central to understanding social life in this part of the world.

This seminar is part of the NASP International and Interdisciplinary Seminars Series 2022.