News

Though HIV rates continue to decrease in Uganda, it is still significantly more prevalent among women than men. The reasons behind this disparity are complex, but largely boil down to different forms of gender inequality.

A forum in Rwanda focused on the importance of engaging youth to design new innovative solutions to tackle the HIV epidemic and provide access to sexual and reproductive health information and services.

Adequate HIV knowledge, prevention, treatment and care services for women in the US criminal justice system is critical, as they are are disproportionately affected by HIV compared to the general population.

The Community Rights and Gender Meeting hosted in Ghana focused on adopting innovative approaches to end HIV and AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Discussions focused around human rights and developing gender-responsive instruments to reduce HIV among adolescent girls and young women.

Allison Carter, a health sciences researcher, is launching a new feminist, sex-positive website and social media project that aims to normalize sex and reduce stigma and fear for women living with HIV. Her research comes from a cohort study which indicated that over 80% of women living with HIV in Canada have experienced some form of violence.

Ms. Mnangagwa signed the Declaration and stressed the importance of health education, appropriate information for behaviour change and use of prevention services for HIV and tuberculosis.

University of Waterloo researchers are working on a new way to prevent women from becoming infected with HIV. Due to socio-cultural factors, they are often unable to negotiate condom usage. The team is looking at long-term methods to protect women from infection.

‘Invisible No Longer’, the latest report from Terrence Higgins Trust and the Sophia Forum, has shed a light on a number of issues that impact women living with HIV in the UK - particularly violence.

Based in Jamaica, Eve for Life is a non-governmental organization which provides psycho-social support and improving sexual and reproductive health and rights for women and girls living with or affected by HIV.

Experts in South Africa are grappling for ways to reduce age-disparate relationships to slow HIV infection rates in young women, reduce violence towards young women and girls and support them to stay in school.

The WHO/PAHO introduced the 'Consolidated Guideline on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of Women Living with HIV' to the Jamaican multi-sectoral HIV response group to create an enabling environment for women and girls living with HIV.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation held a town hall meeting in Makrudi, Nigeria to bring women together to hear health challenges they face daily in the context of HIV. The topmost agenda was to discuss health inequalities women face in relation to accessing quality HIV services and care.

Public-health leaders in the fight against HIV/AIDS have come to an ominous realization: Progress in cutting new infections has slowed, in part because of a persistent cycle of transmission among young women in sub-Saharan Africa.

At an event for women living with HIV in the United Kingdom, participants discussed the challenges women living with HIV face including: poverty, barriers to health care, little support in their roles as care takers, less powerful positions to negotiate relationships and gender-based violence.

In many countries, laws and social norms put women and girls at a disadvantage when it comes to land inheritance, ownership and control. A study of nine African countries found that the HIV epidemic made the disinheritance of widows worse, as many of them were blamed for allegedly infecting their husbands with the virus.

In honor of International Women's Day, the ICW released a report exploring pregnant and breastfeeding women's access to HIV treatment and services, with a focus on rights, dignity and support in care.

Mid-way results from from two studies show that a vaginal ring releasing long-acting antiretroviral medicine to prevent HIV is up to 54% effective in preventing HIV infections among women. The ring can give women an additional prevention option that is discreet and they can control.

The International Partnership for Microbicides urges us to work together to prevent HIV and provide sexual and reproductive health and rights to women, so they have the opportunity to stay healthy and achieve their goals.

This International Women's Day, the Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria highlights the importance of addressing harmful gender norms and discrimination which affect women and girls vulnerability to HIV.

The power of SheDecides is its emphasis on gender equality and women's empowerment, linking these rights with wider Sustainable Development goals, including HIV prevention.