27 January 2017
Nearly five years ago, when Safaa was 26 and a mother of two, she discovered that she had HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) - a disease which destroys the immune system of its host. To her, this was worse than a death sentence - it would force her to keep her medical history secret from even her closest relatives for the rest of her life. Fearing that her relatives would not accept the news of her infection, she managed to…
1 December 2016
For millennia, childbirth was the leading cause of death among women of reproductive age. While still an important cause of death, the leading killer worldwide is now HIV/AIDS, with the highest burden in sub-Saharan Africa. There has been undeniable progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Rates of new HIV infections have been reduced by 6 percent since 2010, and more people than ever are now taking lifesaving antiretroviral…
8 January 2017
A delegation of women living with HIV from Dailekh and Bajura submitted a memorandum to Health Minister Gagan Thapa at his office yesterday. Women from Bajura’s Bahrabisa and Dailekh’s Rakam came to the capital to draw the minister’s attention towards the present plight of HIV victims in the memorandum. They also submitted copies of the memorandum to Women’s Commission and the National Centre for AIDS & STD Control.
…16 January 2017
There is a question that Saara Greene says comes up early when she speaks with HIV-positive women: "Would I get charged if I was raped?" Greene, an associate professor of social work at McMaster University in Hamilton, said she and her team of community-based researchers hear this often during workshops with women about the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure.
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2 January 2017
Immigrant women living with HIV often juggle multiple identities, all of which are the target of discrimination and stigma: HIV status, female gender, person of color, foreign accent and/or poor command of English. Many also come from countries with a high prevalence of HIV and/or have experienced trauma and abuse during their journey to the U.S.
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21 November 2016
Urgent action is needed to help and protect girls and young women from Aids in sub-Saharan Africa, thousands of whom are still being infected with HIV every week, the UN says. Many adolescent girls do not know they have the virus and do not seek help or get treatment because they cannot tell their families they have had a sexual relationship with an older man.
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11 January 2017
Reports of HIV-positive women who have been coerced, forced or tricked into being sterilized reveal how widespread this practice is in Africa, but human rights activists say governments are doing little to stop it.
Read the full article online here.
22 November 2016
New HIV infections among adolescent girls and young women fell by only 6% between 2010 and 2015. This puts the HIV response severely off-track to reach the target of less than 100,000 new HIV infections among this group by 2020. With 7,500 women aged 15-24 becoming infected with HIV every week in 2015, a staggering 74% reduction is needed in the four years to 2020 to reach the first of the UNAIDS Fast-Track strategy…
14 December 2016
Analyses from two large household surveys in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa shed new light on the dynamics of HIV transmission in the South African province that is hardest hit by HIV. Adolescent girls and young women typically acquire HIV from men several years older than themselves, while older men usually acquire HIV from women of their own age. Men and women who migrate just 50km away from home are more likely to become…
4 January 2017
Approximately one-third of HIV-positive women who attain viral suppression after starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) during pregnancy experience a significant rebound in viral load in…
18 November 2016
"Blessers are everywhere," Naledi Tsikedi, 17, tells me, leaning forward in her chair. In the courtyard below, I can hear her classmates hollering, overflowing with adolescent energy as school lets out. Tsikedi, dressed in a blue and white track suit with the name of her high school emblazoned on the front, has stayed behind to speak with me about sex and HIV.
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1 December 2016
Secure land rights can bolster HIV prevention and provide stability for the estimated 14 million women in sub-Saharan Africa who are living with the disease, writes Marian Amissah-Ocran of Landesa on World AIDS Day.
Read the full article on-line here.
FOOTPRINTS painted in bright colours on the floor pass through the bustle of the Themba Lethu clinic in Johannesburg. They lead to a room where every week dozens of men are circumcised. Heterosexual men who get the snip cut their chances of contracting HIV by more than half, since the foreskin is delicate and tears easily. In South Africa, the country that has the world’s largest number of HIV-infected people, such initiatives can save a lot of…
Around 180 young women and adolescent girls from Malawi, Kenya and Uganda have led a pilot project that aims to strengthen the leadership of young women and adolescent girls in the AIDS response. Called Empowerment + Engagement = Equality, the programme aims to address issues of gender inequality that heighten adolescent girls’ vulnerability to HIV infection and provide spaces where experiences can be shared.
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In her 2013 memoir, activist Malala Yousafzai recounts a moment that changes not only the course of her destiny but that of many other young girls across the world. On a trip in northwest Pakistan, she comes across a girl selling oranges who is unable to read or write. Disturbed by the discovery that this girl had not received an education, Malala makes a decision that she famously continues to see through: “I would do everything in my power to…
The International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM) announced today that The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) has published results from The Ring Study, a Phase III clinical trial of IPM’s vaginal ring to prevent HIV. The study’s key findings, announced earlier this year, show that a vaginal ring that slowly releases the antiretroviral drug (ARV) dapivirine over the course of one month safely helps reduce the risk of HIV infection in…
30 November 2016
Although drugs have allowed for longer and healthier lives for those living with HIV, drugs alone are not the end-all solution to addressing the HIV epidemic. This article stresses the importance of supporting community-based organizations in their fight to provide home-care, support groups, education, counseling and more necessary services to prevent new infections and ensure those living with HIV lead positive, healthy…
2 December 2016
CNN describes the disproportionate burden of new HIV infections young women, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, are facing. It focuses on the need to address stigma and discrimination, along with patriarchal practices which often restrict women from negotiating safe sex.
Read the full article on-line here.
The International Community of Women Living with HIV (ICW) released their World AIDS Day statement by asking us to 'step up' to end HIV stigma for women and girls worldwide. They demand a political commitment and a focus towards empowerment, ensuring access to HIV prevention and high-quality treatment, as well as sexual and reproductive health rights for all women.
Read the full statement on-line…