12 July 2007

Everything we know about AIDS in Africa is wrong: Emily Oster on TED.com

Emily Oster, a University of Chicago economist, looks at the stats on AIDS in Africa -- and comes up with a stunning conclusion: Everything we know about AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa is wrong. We look for root causes such as poverty and poor health care -- but we also need to factor in, say, the price of coffee, and the routes of long-haul truckers. In short, she says, there is a lot we don't know; and our assumptions about what we do know may keep us from finding the best way to stop the disease. (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 15:45.)

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Watch Emily Oster's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.

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Discuss Blog Post

Jessica PIckett – July 19 2007

Mead Over at the Center for Global Development has analyzed Emily's findings in the context of other research about concurrent sexual relationships as a driver of the AIDS epidemic here: http://blogs.cgdev.org/globalhealth/2007/07/invisible_cure.php
Pablo Halkyard – July 12 2007

You can see why she is controversial. I also very much enjoyed this short piece of hers in Esquire from a while back:

http://www.esquire.com/features/best-n-brightest-2006/ESQ1206BOWEN_206_2