This section looks back to some ground-breaking contributions to public health, reproducing them in their original form and adding a commentary on their significance from a modern-day perspective. To complement the theme of this month's Bulletin, Thomas C. Quinn reviews the paper he co-authored in

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Books can be purchased from the Harvard Medical Coop (333 Longwood Avenue). At the end of the course the student will be able to: • Analyze rights related to health in international and national human rights documents and application of these rights to work of public health • Evaluate different approaches to institution's promotion, monitoring, and implementation of human rights norms and analyze the value for health policies and programs • Apply human rights concepts and a human rights methodology to the analysis of health policies and programs • Conceptualize and apply a vulnerability and human rights analysis to health • Apply human rights concepts and a human rights approach to public health work Class Format Classes will consist of a background lecture, discussion of assigned readings, and case studies. Class meets on Wednesdays from 1:30-4:20 p.m. in Kresge 201. We will usually take a 10-minute break midway through the class. Class 1 (September 6) Part 1: Introduction To The Course The objectives, structure, readings, and assignments of the course will be presented. The underlying propositions and conceptual framework for the course will be discussed. The basic trends and developments in health and human rights will be briefly reviewed. Part 2: Human Rights Instruments And Core Principles The core principles of modern human rights thinking and practice will be discussed. Emphasis will be placed on the instruments comprising the International Bill of Human Rights.

To examine perinatal transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in Zaire, we screened 8108 women who gave birth at one of two Kinshasa hospitals that serve populations of markedly different socioeconomic status. For up to one year, we followed the 475 infants of the 466 seropositive women (5.8 percent of those screened) and the 616 infants of 606 seronegative women matched for age, parity, and hospital. On the basis of clinical criteria, 85 of the seropositive women (18 percent) had the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The infants of seropositive mothers, as compared with those of seronegative mothers, were more frequently premature, had lower birth weights, and had a higher death rate in the first 28 days (6.2 vs. 1.2 percent; P less than 0.0001). The patterns were similar at the two hospitals. Twenty-one percent of the cultures for HIV-1 of 92 randomly selected cord-blood samples from infants of seropositive women were positive. T4-cell counts were performed in 37 seropositive women, and cord blood from their infants was cultured. The cultures were positive in the infants of 6 of the 18 women with antepartum T4 counts of 400 or fewer cells per cubic millimeter, as compared with none of the infants of the 19 women with more than 400 T4 cells per cubic millimeter (P = 0.02). One year later, 21 percent of the infants of the seropositive mothers had died as compared with 3.8 percent of the control infants (P less than 0.001), and 7.9 percent of their surviving infants had AIDS. We conclude that the mortality rates among children of seropositive mothers are high regardless of socioeconomic status, and that perinatal transmission of HIV-1 has a major adverse effect on infant survival in Kinshasa.

The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and infection with the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) constitute a worldwide public health problem. Whereas in Europe and in most of the Americas transmission of HIV-1 has occurred predominantly among homosexual men and intravenous drug abusers, in Africa a distinct epidemiologic pattern has emerged that indicates that HIV-1 infection is mainly heterosexually acquired. Heterosexual transmission appears to be increasing in some parts of Latin America and the Caribbean, and possibly in the United States. In addition to HIV-1, at least one other human retrovirus, namely HIV-2, has been implicated as a cause of AIDS in Africa and Europe. Factors that influence heterosexual transmission of HIV-1 include genital ulcerations, early or late stages of HIV-1 infection in the index case, and possibly oral contraception and immune activation. The rate of perinatal transmission is enhanced when the mother's illness is more advanced. AIDS and HIV-1 infection may have a significant impact not only on public health, but also on the demography and socioeconomic conditions of some developing countries. Programs for the prevention and control of AIDS should be an immediate priority in all countries.