Positive Women

About the Book

Riana Pappas-Jones, director of a nonprofit, Positive Women, in Washington, D.C., works to assist women HIV/AIDS victims in Africa and other developing countries. When she discovers that Big Pharma has developed a method to deliver antiretrovirals but is withholding that method from the developing world in order to increase profit margins, Riana takes on the challenge to beat Pharma at its own game. When her Washington partner opposes her work, she discovers new allies among contacts in Tanzania -- a former university classmate, now diplomat, and a young doctor. How they take on the pharmaceutical giants provides a story of courage, ingenuity and compelling personal connections.

About the Author

Ellen Boneparth first became interested in women and HIV/AIDS when she worked at the Center for Health and Gender Equity in Washington, D.C. She also traveled to Africa to volunteer in a community service program aiding AIDS victims in Bagamoyo, Tanzania. Currently, Ms. Boneparth works with a new nonprofit, Cure Cervical Cancer, which seeks to establish sustainable clinics in the developing world to see and treat women for cervical cancer. She is visiting several countries in Africa, Central America and the Caribbean to provide medical services to women who have little access to diagnosis and treatment. Ms. Boneparth lives in Washington. D.C. where she audits courses in the School of Public Health and Health Services at George Washington University. “A woman nonprofit director takes on Big Pharma on behalf of women in Africa.  Bravo. This is a compelling read!” --Barbara Koeppel, investigative journalist    “Begin with an urgent and important issue--helping HIV-positive women in developing countries; add a committed heroine who heads a Washington non-profit, stir in game-playing by the pharmaceutical world with the discovery of some unexpected African partners, and you have a thrilling and romantic overseas adventure. Positive Women is an inspiring and engrossing story sure to keep your attention from beginning to end.” --Gail Harris, author of Finders Seekers and Body & Soul, companion book to the PBS series