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HIV prevalence
high among South African women

HIV prevalence
high among South African women

Women ages 15 to 24 in South Africa are three times more likely than males of the same age to be infected with HIV, according to a study in the September 23 issue of the journal AIDS, SAPA/iafrica.com reports. Researchers at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; the University of California, San Francisco; and the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa gave HIV antibody tests to nearly 12,000 15- to 24-year-olds across the country March-August 2003. They found that while 4.8% of the men tested positive, nearly three times that level of women--15.5%--tested positive for HIV infection. The researchers say that the inability of women to insist on condom use coupled with the cultural practice of younger girls dating and becoming sexually active with older men--who are more likely than younger men to be HIV-positive--is fueling the high HIV infection rate among young South African women and adolescent girls. (Advocate.com)

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