Health News
2006-03-10
National Women
and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day set for March 10
Women,
particularly minorities, are disproportionately affected by
HIV.
Marc
March 10 marks
the first National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day,
a nationwide event that aims to raise awareness of the
increasing impact of HIV on women and girls in the
United States and throughout the world. The day is
sponsored by the federal Office on Women’s Health.
“National
Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day provides an
opportunity to encourage women and girls to take
personal responsibility for their own health and
well-being, and reaffirms the commitment of the general
public and the medical and public-health communities to
focus more attention on education, prevention, and
treatment efforts among women and girls,” says
Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious Diseases, in a press statement. “We
renew our commitment to research aimed at measures
that will empower women to protect themselves against
this deadly disease.”
HIV is a rapidly
growing health problem for women. AIDS remains a leading
cause of death for American women ages 25-44 and is the
number 3 cause of death for African-American women in
that age group, according to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. In 2004, 27% of all AIDS cases
in the United States occurred in women, compared with only
7% in 1985, according to CDC data. Women of color,
especially African-American women, represent the vast
majority of new cases among U.S. women--among women
newly diagnosed with HIV or AIDS between 2001 and 2004, an
estimated 83% were African-American or Latina.
Globally the
number of women and girls infected by HIV also continues to
rise. In 2005, approximately 17.5 million women (46% of all
HIV-positive adults) were living with HIV, according
to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.
That figure is a 1 million–person increase since
2003.
Frequently, women
infected with HIV have difficulty accessing health
care, and they may carry the additional burden of caring for
children and other family members who also are
HIV-infected, particularly in developing countries,
says Fauci. They often lack social support and face
other challenges that may interfere with their ability to
adhere to treatment regimens. Research also shows that
HIV-infected women are typically diagnosed and enter
health care services at later stages of infection than
men, making them less likely to respond well to
antiretroviral therapy.
“We need
new ways of thinking,” says Fauci in a press
statement. “Women must be empowered so that
they can exert control over their own lives,
particularly in their sexual relations. Toward that end,
increased educational and employment opportunities for
girls and women are essential, including gender-based
AIDS education and societal campaigns that delineate
the harmful effects of inequality in gender
relations.” (Advocate.com)
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