Infection, Inc.: Pharmaceutical Company Perspectives on Sexuality, Pleasure, and HIV in India

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Harris S. Solomon, MPH, Department of Anthropology, Brown University, Box 1921, Providence, RI 02912, 202-271-6486, harris_solomon@brown.edu

A growing body of anthropological literature explores how cultural, political, and economic contexts influence how individuals taking anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) for HIV infection form meanings about sexual pleasure and risk-taking. However, anthropologists have paid little attention to the pharmaceutical company as a key source of authoritative knowledge about sexuality and pleasure in the era of global HIV treatment regimes. This paper draws on ethnographic field research conducted within an ARV-manufacturing pharmaceutical company in India to describe the formation and dissemination of discourses about sexual pleasure. A focus on India, recognized globally for its robust biotechnology sector and a contentious HIV epidemic, offers a unique analytical standpoint to assess how industry perspectives influence public health policies and programs. Using the Actor-Network Theory of scientific innovation, I discuss how a pharmaceutical company in India is one site within a broader cluster of individuals, institutions, and interests where moral sentiments about pleasure – and their relevance to the rights of persons in need of ARVs – can be made visible.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this presentation, the participant will be able to

1. Understand the context of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in India.
2. Discuss the Actor-Network Theory of scientific innovation.
3. Assess ideas about sexual pleasure, HIV infection, and the sexuality of the imagined “client” that emanate from a pharmaceutical company in India.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS, Sexuality

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Sexual Pleasure and Sexual Health

The 134th Annual Meeting & Exposition (November 4-8, 2006) of APHA