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CM . . . .
Volume VII Number 15 . . . . March 30, 2001
Searching for Hawa's Secret, a fascinating documentary into AIDS research, has a special
connection to Canada. It describes how Dr. Frank Plummer, from Winnipeg, and his team of
researchers in Nairobi, Kenya, discovered that certain women prostitutes being treated in their
clinic appeared to be immune to the HIV virus. The video follows their research into the
background of Hawa, a 37-year-old prostitute supporting five young children, who, despite
repeated exposure, has remained virus free. In the documentary, viewers travel to Hawa's home
village and meet many of her extended family, who also are found to be free of HIV infection. It
shows how the members of the research team, including Dr. Kelly McDonald, also from
Winnipeg, are pursuing these genetic clues to try to develop a vaccine against this devastating
disease.
Dr. Frank Plummer and his fellow researchers in Nairobi have received world-wide recognition,
including major funding from the World Health Organization. This video is a well-produced,
informative and important record of their search for a prevention for AIDS. Their research is
continuing, although Dr. Plummer has recently returned to Canada to become Director of the new
National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg.
This video would be a useful addition in a Senior High classroom to supplement health education
or to give an outstanding example of the value of medical research. The quality of photography is
very high, and the director has managed to make this a very human story as well as a scientific
one.
Highly Recommended.
Helen Norrie, a lecturer in Children's Literature in the Faculty of Education at the University of
Manitoba, authors the monthly "Children's Book Review" column in the Winnipeg Free Press.
To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.
Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association.
Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice
is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without
permission.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - March 30, 2001.
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