AIDS hitting
Massachusetts women hard

Despite the fact that AIDS deaths in Massachusetts have declined from a peak of 1,207 in 1989 to 226 in 2003, the AIDS death rate among women in the state is rising at a sharp rate, more than tripling during that time frame, the Boston Herald reports. Deaths of white women increased 56% from 1989 to 2003 while dropping 24% among white men during the same period. The AIDS death rate also climbed among HIV-positive African-American women by 28%, while dropping 29% among African-American men. Latinos were the only group to post declines among both men and women. Overall, women accounted for 34% of AIDS deaths in the state in 2003, up from 11% in 1989.

Health officials say disparities in health care access and in the way in which men and women advocate for themselves in the political and health care arena may be to blame for the differences in AIDS death rates between Massachusetts men and women.