This briefing note describes the linkages between women and HIV/AIDS, and the impact on national economies. In addition to young women being at greatest risk for transmission, women also bear the brunt of the costs of HIV/AIDS. Women's risks are exacerbated by poverty, low status and dependence on men. Women's lack of education fuels discrimination in the labour market, where women may also experience stigma or violence.
Content Type
FOUND 1369
A new study may help put to rest fears that pregnancy accelerates progression to full-blown AIDS in women with HIV receiving antiretroviral therapy. The study, published in the October 1st issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases and now available online, revealed that pregnancy may, in fact, slow disease progression in these women.
As a week-long meeting of health ministers organised by the African Union (AU) got underway in Johannesburg on Monday, AIDS activists expressed concern that commitments on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, reached at several meetings last year, were missing from the agenda.
A UN-sponsored conference on HIV/AIDS being held in Auckland has called on health ministers and attorney generals in the Pacific to apply the lessons learnt from Africa.
Interventions that target individuals with a high risk of contracting HIV have a negligible impact on HIV transmission in the general population, according to a new study of communities in Zimbabwe, published today.
Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced a bipartisan bill to reduce the vulnerability of women and girls to HIV infection in developing countries and eliminate the requirement that thirty-three percent of AIDS prevention funds be spent for abstinence-only programs.
The publication summarizes existing evidence on the use of antiretroviral drugs for preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV and makes recommendations on the choice of regimens in the context of expanding access to antiretroviral treatment.
Breastfeeding, which helps build a baby's immune system, may be the best option for HIV-infected mothers in developing countries, despite the risk of transmitting the virus that causes AIDS to their babies, according to new studies presented at the 14th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections. HIV-positive mothers generally are counseled to feed their babies formula to limit the risk of transmission of the human…
This paper explores the relationship between economic independence, empowerment, and reproductive health for girls and young women. With a focus on East and Southern Africa, it uses examples of promising programs to highlight potential responses and lessons learned.
This 5-page brochure focuses on factors that increase girl's risk of HIV/AIDS. Illustrated with orange and white text and graphics, this brochure aims to provide some basic facts about HIV/AIDS and girls. The brochure also suggests solutions to help protect girls and enable them to protect themselves from this pandemic. It is one of a series to help NGOs protect the needs and rights of girls through action and advocacy.
This paper examines poverty and social structures that may keep many women in Africa from being able to protect themselves from HIV.
This 4-page fact sheet summarizes the role of gender in vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, discusses women’s and men’s vulnerabilities, highlights how to enlist men in HIV/AIDS prevention, and suggests a gender-based response to the epidemic.
This is a review of publications addressing aspects of the intersection between gender-based violence (GBV) and HIV. The literature review is organised into eight sub-sections: 1. Exploring the Linkages: General and Theoretical Examinations of the Intersection of GBV and HIV; 2. Interrogating and interpreting the associated risks of HIV/AIDS and GBV; 3. The role of men; 4. GBV and HIV testing and disclosure; 5. GBV as a risk factor for HIV; 6.…
The XVI International AIDS Conference, August 2006, identified food and nutrition security as issues that are critically interlinked with HIV/AIDS and that need to be addressed along a continuum of prevention, treatment, care, and positive living. Four sessions focused specifically on the particular relationships between food security and HIV/AIDS; one was on HIV, Gender, and Development. This report synthesizes the key issues raised and…
This 4-page fact sheet outlines linkages between agriculture, HIV/AIDS, and gender inequality, and highlights some of the potential impacts of HIV/AIDS on food security. Finally, it focuses on the role of agricultural policy and programming in mitigating against the impacts of HIV/AIDS.
This set of guidelines was developed specifically to facilitate the programming decisions of agriculture development officers within governments, bilateral donors, and non-governmental organizations working in affected countries in southern Africa. They offer a synopsis of existing information related to the links between HIV/AIDS, gender inequality, and agricultural development, and they provide a series of recommendations as to how these…
This publication is divided into three sections. Section one provides a synthesis of the reviewed literature on prevention of mother to- child transmission of HIV, voluntary counseling and testing, and other issues that impact on the care, psychosocial support and counseling needs of HIV-infected women and their families in the perinatal period. Section two provides examples from around the world of projects that focus on the care and…
This study assesses the potential roles of late age at marriage and a long period of premarital sexual activity as population risk factors for HIV infection in the sub-Saharan Africa region. The relationship between marital status and the prevalence and incidence of HIV is examined with ecological data from 33 sub-Saharan African countries and with individual-level data from nationally representative Demographic and Health Surveys in Kenya…
With funding from CIDA, ICAD has developed a toolkit on addressing HIV/AIDS and gender equality in food security and rural livelihoods programming. The toolkit can be used by program managers and their partners when working in situations where HIV and AIDS prevalence is high. While it is primarily geared towards the CIDA program cycle, the toolkit is also useful to a wider audience including NGOs, particularly those working closely with CIDA.…
This module serves as an introduction to basic reproductive health services of women and girls in emergency settings. Although comprehensive RH services should be available to the entire population once the situation stabilizes, reducing the transmission of HIV, preventing sexual violence, providing care for survivors of sexual violence, ensuring clean deliveries and access to emergency obstetric care in the first days of a crisis are a priority…