HIV: Number 1 Killer of Women

The World Health Organization has announced that the leading cause of death and disease among women between the ages of 15 and 44 is HIV/AIDS.

By Christopher Mangum

Burmese -Rohingya woman AIDS X390 (GETTY) | ADVOCATE.COM

The World Health Organization has released its first study on women’s health worldwide. The United Nations agency found that the leading cause of death and disease among women between the ages of 15 and 44 is HIV/AIDS.

According to the report, “Girls and women are particularly vulnerable to HIV infection due to combinations of biological factors and gender-based inequities, particularly in cultures that limit women’s knowledge about HIV and their ability to protect themselves and negotiate safer sex.”

The prevalence of HIV infection in women globally has increased since the 1990s, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa

The leading risk factor for HIV infection is unprotected sex, and in order to see a substantive reduction in infections steps need to be taken to inform women about contraception, reduce the stigma surrounding its use, and mitigate sexual violence against women.

WHO’s report made no explicit mention of health concerns for women in the LGBT community.

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Reader Comments

Back to top Post a Comment Report Abuse
Name: Johnson Tagarisa
Date posted: 6/28/2011 8:08:51 PM
Hometown: Toronto

Comment:
We continue to get no answers about the controversies of HIV AIDS. Unfortunately the WHO continues to evade dabate and prefersto misinform people. If no proper research fueled by debate will not be tolerated by WHO we will never have a solution to this problem.
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Name: Owen
Date posted: 11/11/2009 11:14:25 PM
Hometown: West Hollywood

Comment:
Unfortunately women are still considered property and less than men in MANY cultures and MANY religions reinforce this. I wish women could/would rise up and not take this bullshit any longer. Unfortunately men have ruined this world.
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Name: citybythebay
Date posted: 11/11/2009 7:42:51 PM
Hometown: san francisco

Comment:
This atrocity did NOT have to happen. And it was contributed to by the Catholic Church and its idiotic objection to procreation. And it was contributed to by Christian conservatives in the US who squelched contraception programs that the government funded in Africa. They weren't the only causes, of course, but they sure had horrible policies around solutions.

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