News

The findings revealed that only 46% of girls and young women living with HIV were aware of their status and just 45% were virally suppressed. However, researchers found a high proportion of viral suppression among those aware of their infection. New interventions to link young women and girls to testing services and same-day treatment initiation is critical.

We don't often think of HIV and AIDS as a women's issue, but in areas where infections are most prevalent, it's women and girls who are most at risk. More than half of all people living with HIV and AIDS are women and young women are especially likely to contract the disease today.

Kenya is among seven African countries chosen to carry out large-scale trials for a long-acting, injectable HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drug for women. The purpose of this trial is to examine the safety and effectiveness of the drug compared to existing daily oral PrEP pills. Ultimately, this could reduce HIV infection among young women and provide safe HIV prevention options for women.

Some of Grand Challenges Canada's large investments focus on improving the sexual and reproductive health of women and girls. One project in Kenya aims to reduce HIV infections among adolescent girls and young women through HIV/STI education, gender and life skills programming and entrepreneurial skills training.

This blog post by Plan International Canada's Global Fund team discusses findings from Benin's national study on gender-based violence and its linkages to HIV infection. Preliminary results indicate that rigid and unequal gender norms leave women and girls with little negotiating power to make positive health choices.

This letter comes from a group of young African women and reflects their HIV prevention research priorities. It was submitted to the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Division of AIDS (DAIDS) during the open-comment period concerning the structure and agenda for its next funding cycle (2021-2027).

The newly released movie focuses on five women living with HIV and their journeys in accessing treatment, legal aid, finding services, receiving legal aid and providing care.

This World AIDS Day, Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka calls for a commitment to prioritize and reach all the women and girls being left behind in the HIV response.

This World AIDS Day, Executive Director of UNAIDS Michel Sidibé highlights the importance of the right to health and the challenges that people living with and affected by HIV face in fulfilling that right.

In this statement, the International Partnership for Microbicides calls for an expansion for women's HIV prevention options so they can stay healthy and thrive.

The International Community of Women Living with HIV (ICW) asks policy makers to support interventions that promote access to the right to health for all women and girls, especially those living with HIV.

At the ICW Latina forum in Costa RIca, Luiz Lourez, Deputy Executive Director of UNAIDS, addressed the linkages between gender-based violence, discrimination and increased HIV infection among young women in Latin America.

In South Africa, adolescent girls and young women are becoming infected with HIV at 8 times the rate of their male peers. The opening of Adolescent and Youth Friendly Services aims to promote a welcoming environment for youth in the community to access health services.

In Papa New Guinea, the risk of acquiring HIV is up to 7 times higher in women with violent or controlling intimate partners. Gender-based violence affects the ability of women and girls to protect themselves from HIV infection, prevent unintended pregnancies or access HIV prevention services.

The Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network will launch Aboriginal AIDS Awareness Week the first week of December. During this week, they will raise awareness on HIV prevention and key affected populations in Canada, including indigenous women and young people living with HIV.

Civil society organisations working on HIV and human rights in Africa recently condemned the enactment of repressive laws which often include provisions that criminalise HIV transmission, non-disclosure and exposure. In many contexts, these laws have a disproportionately punitive effect on women.

A conference at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia takes a women-centred approach towards HIV and reproductive health, specifically addressing the stagnant rates of HIV infection in African American women.

Recent data shows that young women, ages 15-24 years are twice as likely to become infected with HIV than men of the same age. Women continue to be left behind in the progress against HIV. Investing in prevention technologies designed for women and girls would prioritize their needs and address many inequalities they face in the flight against HIV/AIDS.

The Eastern Cape Province of South Africa is hosting a two-day HIV Prevention Programme for Young Adolescent Girls and Women. This meeting will allow young women and girls to spotlight issues that contribute to HIV infections and teenage pregnancy in the province.

The Philippines' Commission on Population (POPCOM) is reaching more young people in their campaign to address teenage pregnancy and HIV through short films to be shared with policy makers, civil society organizations, community members and schools.