27 April 2018
A health sciences researcher at Simon Fraser University, Canada is challenging myths around sex for women living with HIV through a new project called Life & Love with HIV. Allison Carter says over 16,000 women in Canada are living with HIV but most of the support they receive in regards to sexual heath is about how to use condoms to prevent transmission. “However, science shows that when women are on treatment and…
18 April 2018
University of Waterloo researchers are working on a new way to prevent women from becoming infected with HIV. After years of research, professor Emmanuel Ho and his team have finished an initial phase of testing for an implant that uses the body's own immune cells to reduce the chances of infection.
Ho said current HIV-prevention strategies include condoms and anti-HIV drugs, which "eliminate HIV that's already…
9 April 2018
Lots has changed for HIV since the 1980s, back when there was no treatment, mass fear and lots of people were dying. Today, early treatment and access to effective HIV medication means people living with HIV can be ‘undetectable’, meaning you cannot acquire HIV from them and can expect to live a long and happy life. Science has proved it!
However, people living with HIV still face stigma and discrimination, and this…
9 April 2018
The Flair Magazine visited the home of Eve for Life last week and spoke with Executive Director, Claudia Fletcher, about their inspiring and life-changing movement. Eve for Life, based in Jamaica, is a non-governmental organisation which serves to provide psychosocial support for women and children living with or affected by HIV or AIDS, as well as improving the reproductive, sexual rights and better the overall quality of…
26 March 2018
Experts are grappling for ways to reduce age disparate relationships between older men and younger women, which are fuelling new HIV infections in South Africa, home to 7 million HIV positive people - the highest number in the world, according to the UN agency for HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). But "blessing" - where wealthy, older men spend lavishly on younger women - has become a symbol of prestige for teenage girls trapped in a…
3 April 2018
Nearly 18 million women (15 years+) make up over half of all adults living with HIV and young women (15-24 years) account for 60 percent of those infected in their age group. The World Health Organization states that women living with HIV in many countries are not afforded equal access to treatment and are often victims of discrimination and increased violence – including infringement upon their sexual and reproductive…
31 March 2018
Four times more women than men in the 15 to 19 age group in Jamaica are living with HIV, according to a 2015 epidemiology report. Against this backdrop, the new 'Consolidated Guideline on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of Women living with HIV' was introduced by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) to the Jamaican multi-sectoral HIV response group at a three-day…
16 March 2018
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. New HIV infections have been reduced around the world since the late 1990s by diligent efforts at education, the rollout of antiretroviral drugs and other factors. But declines have lost momentum…
15 March 2018
The night before International Women's Day, I volunteered behind the bar at "A Catwalk for Power, Resistance and Hope", a fabulous fashion show for women with HIV organised by ACT UP London Women (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), and Positively UK, an organisation that runs peer-led support groups for people with HIV.
After a poetry reading by the incredibly talented writer and motivational speaker Bakita, these…
19 March 2018
In many countries, laws and social norms put women and girls at a disadvantage when it comes to land inheritance, ownership, and control.
Deborah, a 58-year-old widow in Zimbabwe, said that after her husband died, her in-laws harassed and threatened her. They wanted her home and the land she had cultivated for four decades. Deborah said her brother-in-law had “taken all of my fields and even tilled my yard [to plant…
7 March 2018
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, which is replaced monthly, slowly releases the antiretroviral medicine dapivirine and could give women an additional HIV prevention option that is discreet and that they can control.
“These results are significant,” said…
7 March 2018
By Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
The speed and magnitude of recent developments supporting gender equality has been quite remarkable. Barriers and discrimination that have been tolerated or overlooked for far too long are now being energetically challenged and overcome. Inspired by the courage of women who are speaking out, many people are…
8 March 2018
In honor of International Women's Day, the International Community of Women Living with HIV (ICW) released a new report entitled "Walking in our Shoes: Perspectives of Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women living with HIV on Access and Retention in Care in Malawi, Uganda and Zambia."
This report highlights the key factors that facilitate retention in care for women living with HIV and calls for increased focus on rights…
8 March 2018
On this International Women’s Day, it has never been more urgent to ensure women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights, so that women everywhere have the opportunity to stay healthy and achieve their goals.
The leading causes of death among women of reproductive age worldwide are HIV/AIDS and maternal mortality, with complications from pregnancy and childbirth as major factors. These women are our mothers,…
6 March 2018
Although the overall number of new HIV cases has dropped in New York City, diagnoses among women, particularly Black and Latina women, rose 5% from 2015 to 2016, according to the Department of Health. To respond, New York City's Department of Health has kicked off a public health campaign aimed at increasing the use of HIV prevention medication, or pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), among female patients.
The…
2 March 2018
In this article, Avert CEO, Sarah Hand, reflects on the wider role of #SheDecides for HIV and global development, one year on from its launch.
The power of SheDecides is its emphasis on gender equality and women's empowerment. It's a movement born out of women recognizing their sexual and reproductive health and rights in the era of the Global Gag Rule. SheDecides also links these rights with the wider Sustainable…
21 February 2018
Accurate information about sex and healthy relationships leads to greater gender equality worldwide, a report by the UN’s world heritage body Unesco found. It also leads to better sexual health, as well as less sexually transmitted infections, HIV and unintended pregnancies. Yet many young people still don’t get the accurate information they need. Technology is one way to bring it to them. The revised international…
25 February 2018
Ukraine has one of the fastest growing HIV epidemics in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, with approximately 240,000 people living with the virus and a prevalence of 0.9 percent in the general adult population. In Ukraine, 35 percent of women living with HIV have experienced violence from a partner or husband since the age of 15, compared to 19 percent of women who do not have HIV, according to a November 2016 survey by…
26 January 2018
Uganda has many women, who are infected with HIV and have had a history of physically violent partners. This has contributed to their life-threatening and life-reducing experiences within their families and with their sexual partners. Also, there is growing violence of child sexual abuse (CSA) that has increased HIV spread. There is a number of evident cases where domestic violence (DV) has contributed to HIV infections…
6 February 2018
Women living with HIV in Switzerland are mainly relying on male condoms for contraception, investigators report in HIV Medicine. The study found that two-thirds of reproductive age women reported using contraception, with three-quarters of these individuals putting their trust in male condoms. Unwanted pregnancies were not uncommon among women using contraception.
“Male condoms remained the most frequently used…