Sin, Sex and Stigma: A Pacific Response to HIV and AIDS

The major aim of the work is "to pay critical attention to several aspects of Papua New Guinea's national response to HIV and AIDS and hopefully thereby to strengthen it" (24). [...]as opposed to being a disinterested academic, Hammar is an engaged advocate, compelled to write by a "hot glow of anger" (47) and his self-declared "special responsibilities in the world" (387). [...]the work could be better organized because, although each chapter is interesting in and of itself, the monograph lacks an overall coherence and may be better conceptualized as a number of loosely related essays. [...]the author's controversial rep¬utation in Papua New Guinea-which will probably not improve, given the infuriated and sometimes accusa¬tory tone of his writing-will likely not move this book to the top of the reading lists of religious, policy, and political representatives in the country.