7 September 2017
The California Assembly voted Thursday to reduce the penalty for intentionally exposing someone to HIV from a felony to a misdemeanor. Existing laws discriminate against people with HIV, the virus that causes the immune system-weakening disease AIDS, supporters of the change said. The bill, passed 44-13, would treat HIV like other communicable diseases under California law. Between 1988 and 2014, at least 800 people…
National Strategic Plans (NSPs) for HIV/AIDS are country planning documents that set priorities for programmes and services, including a set of targets to quantify progress toward national and international goals. The inclusion of sex-disaggregated targets and targets to combat gender inequality is important given the high disease burden among young women and adolescent girls in Sub-Saharan Africa, yet no comprehensive gender-focused analysis…
7 September 2017
In a regional workshop, India's Deputy Director General of the National Aids Control Organization (NACO), Dr. Naresh Goel, stated that the lack of knowledge of HIV is a barrier to reaching the zero-infection target by 2020. He referenced the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) of India, between 2006 to 2016, where women's knowledge around HIV and AIDS increased only by 6.1% from 28.5% to 34.6%. This is lower than…
5 September 2017
Elizabeth Ayumpou Balang is a teacher at a nursery and primary school in Rumbek, a town in central South Sudan. It is her dream job, but it did not come easily. Like many girls in South Sudan, Ms. Balang was married, and became a mother, while just a teenager. Ms. Balang teaches at a local school where the curriculum includes modules on gender equality, HIV and AIDS and family planning as part of their comprehensive…
5 September 2017
Fred Ssewamala, professor at Washington University in St. Louis, has received a $3.4 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to study the effectiveness of interventions in Uganda aimed at protecting adolescent girls against known HIV risk factors. The five-year study will examine the impact and cost associated with “Suubi (Hope) For Girls…
5 September 2017
ViiV Healthcare announced $1 million in grants for Positive Action for Women (PAFW), a pilot initiative that supports innovative, forward-thinking community collaborations that break down isolation and stigma for transgender and cisgender women of color living with HIV and link them to networks of care.Currently, 80% of all new HIV infections in women in the United States are among women of color. Complex social…
28 August 2017
A new study found that more states are making female condoms available through Medicaid, rising 30% more from 2007 to 2016. But few women are using them, researchers say. Susan Witte, one of the researchers from the Columbia University School of Social Work, said that when "used correctly, the female condom can provide as much protection as the male condom. Furthermore, a woman can choose on her own to use it and insert…
28 August 2017
Malawi's Centre for Alternatives for Victimised Women and Children (CAVWOC) has intensified efforts to end cultural practices such as sexual cleansing that are contributing to high school drop-out among girls and the spread of HIV. Project Coordinator Smart Mvula said CAVWOC wants to eradicate harmful cultural practices happening in two traditional authorities of Phalombe district. Mvula said the organization is working…
28 August 2017
New research shows that improved treatment is allowing more Canadian women living with HIV to get pregnant. According to the Canadian HIV Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health Cohort Study, nearly 25 percent of women reported a pregnancy after an HIV diagnosis. Angela Kaida, a co-author and a Canada research chair in global perspectives on HIV and sexual and reproductive health at Simon Fraser University, said women…
23 August 2017
The prevalence of HIV in Uganda is more than 3% higher among women than men, according to research by the Uganda AIDS Commission. While the overall rate of those aged between 15 and 49 living with the infection has declined in the past five years to 6% – from 7.3% – women remain disproportionately affected by the epidemic. Health experts have attributed the disparity to the fact men tend to have more sexual partners, so a…
23 August 2017
Around 34,000 people in Iran have been identified as living with HIV, yet officials estimate many more people unaware of their condition. Kambiz Mehzari, Advisor to the Committee on AIDS Prevention and Control, said that "close to 33% of all infected people are women...The infection used to be more prevalent in men but it's been infecting more and more women in recent times," adding that the rate of women's infection is…
20 August 2017
In Venezuela, shortages of vital medicines have interrupted treatment for 80 percent of people living with HIV, with deadly consequences along with shortages of food and basic supplies. Thousands of mothers living with HIV currently lack access to medication and baby formula and are being forced to choose between unsafely breastfeeding their babies or letting them go hungry. This crisis has also greatly affected one of…
21 August 2017
Microbicides are being heralded as a way to empower women and protect themselves against the virus, giving women autonomy over their own sexual health. Yet, a recent study conducted by researchers from the University of Zambia, Leeds Beckett University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found that men still yield influence over the use of microbicides due to the role of men as decision-makers of the…
20 August 2017
Actress Charlize Theron hopes to create an AIDS-free generation in South Africa through supporting community-based HIV programmes. Recently, she has supported the Choma Dreams Cafe, a place that aims to empower adolescent girls by providing them access to education, life skills, mentorship and HIV prevention tips. Theron believes that gender inequality and poverty play a major role in the spread of HIV and programs such…
27 July 2017
A follow-up study evaluated the safety and efficacy to the dapivirine vaginal ring as a means of HIV prevention among adolescent girls. It found that using the ring reduced young women's risk of HIV by a promising 56%. The sample of this study consisted of 96 sexually-active girls, between ages 15-17, in the United States. The ring was deemed safe and acceptable in adolescent girls in the United States and the research will…
14 August 2017
A new initiative in Saskatoon, Canada is working to help women living with HIV build a sense of community. The program involves a five-day retreat using art-based therapy methods. Jason Mercredi, executive director of AIDS Saskatoon, said the aim of the event is to help women living with HIV empower their own communities and address their needs.
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12 August 2017
The Red Pump organization's events target women and girls to spread awareness about the impact of HIV and educate them to get tested. According to Red Pump, women make up 25% of the population living with HIV in the United States and less than half of them have the virus under control.
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14 August 2017
Malawi's government says it will work with all tribes in the country in making sure that all women and girls are free from practices that expose them to the risk of contracting HIV and AIDS. During a Ngoni cultural event, Deputy Minister of Gender, Children and Social Welfare Clement Mkumbwa said the time has come for all tribes to start respecting and valuing girls and women in the country. Minister Mkumbwa strongly…
6 August 2017
Sexual violence against women and girls has reached catastrophic proportions in Jamaica, with rates increasing each subsequent year despite under-reporting. Between 2007-2015, the Office of the Children's Registry recorded that 15,457 cases of sexual abuse against children, 92% of all cases, were among girls. Ministry of Health's data also shows that youth are significantly affected by HIV, with girls accounting for the…
9 August 2017
Mayors in West Java Province, Indonesia signed an HIV/AIDS Declaration to demonstrate their leadership in the ongoing fight against the infection in the country. An important aspect of the declaration include youth and young adult education, with a focus on women's reproductive health.
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