This book aims to show the conditions and behaviors of vulnerable and marginalized people in Bangladesh which put them at risk of HIV/AIDS infection, and what their adopted coping strategies are and how these play out. In addition, the book seeks to gain an understanding of the perceptions of civil society and policy planners with respect to vulnerability to HIV, and the necessary mitigation measures. While there is much published literature on the epidemiology and etiology for the most at-risk groups in the region, there has not yet been any in-depth research concerning the socio-cultural and geographic impacts of HIV issues in Bangladesh. Almost all of the literature shows HIV as an epidemiological problem rather than investigating it from a social or cultural point of view, and still less using qualitative methods. The present work is an endeavor to fill these gaps by providing valuable qualitative field data to demonstrate the causes of HIV risk and vulnerability, and to examine the nature of the social and locational context of HIV/AIDS in Bangladesh and to assist with health care policy planning. The book will be of use to students and researchers, studying public health, health geography, medical sociology, medical anthropology, social psychology and social epidemiology, and to professionals in the fields of development, community medicine, health management and social policy.

Dr. Alak Paul is a Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at The University of Chittagong, Bangladesh. He received his MSc from Dhaka University, Bangladesh in 1999 and PhD from University of Durham, UK in 2009. Being an empirical geographer, his research and teaching interest spans over public health; society and environment; disaster management etc. for last twenty years. Dr Paul gives emphasis on marginalized and stigmatized people to his studies using qualitative approach and looks at the everyday geographies of various vulnerable people where he establishes how place play a role in (re)shaping the life of people or environment. He has over 40 peer reviewed research publications in reputed journals along with seven book chapters and four authored and/or edited books to his credit.

Chapter 1-HIV/AIDS in Bangladesh: Present Research.- Chapter 2-'Lifeworlds of Marginalized People in HIV Discourse.- Chapter 3-Stigmatized People and Societal Prejudice.- Chapter 4-HIV Risk Behaviour, Consciousness and Risk Coping.- Chapter 5-Place, Mobility and Channelling of HIV Risk.- Chapter 6-Addressing HIV Issues: National Policy to Local Practice.- Chapter 7-Summary and Conclusion.