Repro Health Hub

Another important national day is observed today: the National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. The theme this year is “HIV is Right Here at Home.” Naina Khanna, Coordinator of the U.S. Positive Women’s Network, discusses the lack of awareness about the toll HIV/AIDS takes on women on RH Reality Check:

Here in the United States, women comprise about 27% of HIV infections, up from about 8% in 1984. In many countries around the world, women already represent over 50% of HIV infections.  Rates of sexually transmitted infections among youth and teenage pregnancy have risen over the last several years - both indicators that we may soon see a corresponding rise in HIV infections among both young women and men.  And, although generally considered a chronic manageable condition in the U.S., HIV continues to be the leading cause of death among African American women aged 25 to 34 years old.

Yet most of the general public in the U.S. think of HIV as a men’s disease and some members of the HIV advocacy/policy community have gone so far as to say “HIV/AIDS in this country is a men’s disease.”

In honor of the day, almost 100 female bloggers from across the country are participating in the Red Pump Project by using their platforms to write about the effect of HIV/AIDS on the lives and health of women and girls. Here’s what one the organizers has to say:

Also be sure to check out the National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day events page to find out about what’s going on in your area, and remember to take your sexual health into your own hands and know your status!

By Maya Dusenbery

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 at 9:40 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.