29 January 2019
Adolescent girls exposed to severe drought conditions in rural Lesotho had higher rates of HIV, according to a new study led by researchers at ICAP at Columbia University, a global health organization based at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, and from the Lesotho Ministry of Health and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Adolescent girls and young women in rural areas of drought were also more…
5 February 2019
People living with HIV in Canada can be charged with aggravated sexual assault and be registered as sexual offenders if they do not disclose their HIV status, but many women living with HIV have little knowledge of this law, according to a recent qualitative study. The law contributes to increased HIV-related stigma, social injustices and vulnerability to violence for women living with HIV, argue Dr Saara Greene and…
2 February 2019
The minimum age of consent for sexual relations in Tanzania is 18 years. With teenage girls increasingly being infected with HIV, Section 431 of the Tanzania HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Act will be revised to allow adolescent girls, aged 15 years and older, to undergo testing.
Read the full article online…
Despite substantial declines in the number of new HIV infections globally, the HIV/AIDS epidemic among females ages 15-24 in select countries remains uncontrolled, with 67 percent of new infections in young people in sub-Saharan Africa occurring in adolescent girls and young women, or an estimated 280,000 new infections annually. HIV prevalence rates among female youth ages 15-24 are consistently higher than among their male peers, with…
Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) are disproportionately affected by HIV, and can face barriers to access, uptake and use of HIV prevention methods. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a new, effective, individually-controlled HIV prevention tool that could benefit some AGYW. This study used qualitative, participatory, peer-led methods to explore the knowledge, views and preferences of AGYW about PrEP, HIV prevention, and sexual and…
Despite a recent fall in new infections, South Africa still has the largest HIV epidemic in the world and has not achieved the 50% reduction envisaged in its national strategic plan for 2012-16. Adolescent girls and young women are disproportionately affected by HIV, with prevalence among 20-24 year olds three times higher in women (16%) than in men (5%), and females aged 15-24 years accounting for 37% of new infections. Amid the competing…
1 December 2018
By Magalie Nelson, Senior Health Advisor at Plan International Canada
HIV is on the rise for women around the world. Every week, 7,000 women are diagnosed with a positive status, and in 2016 women made up 52 per cent of all people living with HIV.
While adopting safer-sex practices remains one of the most common ways to prevent HIV, the solution is not that simple. When it comes to women, gender inequality…
11 December 2018
Around the world, more than half of individuals living with HIV are women. Young women are twice as likely as young men their age to contract HIV. Among 15- to 19-year-olds in sub-Saharan Africa, girls account for 3 of every 4 new infections. As a direct result, complications related to HIV are the leading cause of death among women ages 30 to 49.
HIV passes more easily from a man to a woman than the other way…
29 November 2018
The world has cut the number of AIDS-related deaths in half since the peak in 2005. But in many countries, HIV infections remain extremely high among key populations and among adolescent girls and young women. Globally, nearly 1,000 girls and young women are infected with HIV every day.
In South Africa, the country hardest hit by the HIV epidemic, girls aged 15-19 are eight times more likely to be living with HIV…
The HIV/AIDS community is paying increasing attention to the estimated 1.8 million (uncertainty bounds 1.3 million to 2.4 million) people younger than 15 years living with HIV globally, as was evident by the focus on adolescents at the XXII International AIDS Conference in July, 2018. This attention is welcome and it is crucial to curtailing the HIV epidemic. But while age disaggregation can help elucidate the spread and impacts of the HIV…
1 December 2018
Thirty years after the first World AIDS Day, the response to HIV stands at a crossroads. Which way we turn may define the course of the epidemic—whether we will end AIDS by 2030, or whether future generations will carry on bearing the burden of this devastating disease.
…1 December 2018
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the first World AIDS Day. Thirty years of activism and solidarity under the banner of World AIDS Day. Thirty years of campaigning for universal access to life-saving services to treat and prevent HIV. But after 30 years, AIDS is…
30 November 2018
World AIDS Day focuses our attention both on successes, and on those whose needs remain urgent and unmet.
…30 November 2018
Today, 30 years after World AIDS Day was first observed, it’s encouraging to see the advances that have been made in prevention and treatment.
But, with nearly 2,000 women a day acquiring HIV worldwide—and young women in sub-Saharan Africa facing at least twice the risk as young men—closing the prevention gap for women remains a major challenge.
Read the full statement online…
20 November 2018
Kenya has the fourth-largest HIV epidemic in the world and adolescent girls and young women account for up to 21% of all new HIV infections.
Through the Moving the Goalposts project, Tibu and other Young Leaders are integrating HIV education into weekly football sessions to help create a safe and supportive space to discuss sensitive issues.
As a result, the girls will have a better understanding of how to…
13 November 2018
Jamaican women living with HIV who are uncertain where to go for assistance due to the fear of being stigmatized can turn to 'Eve for Life.' The non-governmental organization recently received USD $43,000 from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation to coordinate two new programmes - Self Motivated and Responsible Teenagers (SMART) and Vocal and Informed Teens: To Plan and Prevent.
In a recent press release,…
8 November 2018
In Uganda, about 1.5 million people are living with HIV, but data analysis shows new infections are on the rise among women. In 2015, it was estimated that 567 young people (15-24 years) get infected with HIV every week and of these, 363 were young women. A 2016 report shows that 570 young women (15-24 years) got infected with HIV every week in Uganda.
A 20-year study by the Uganda Virus Research…
1 November 2018
This year's United States Conference on AIDS (USCA) focused on the importance of activism in the fight against HIV. Activism played a crucial role in the early years of the epidemic -- bringing pressure to bear on governments, industry, and society to respond to the epidemic with urgency and compassion.
Marmina…
29 October 2018
Undoubtedly, the lack of a female face with HIV is partly due to the demographics of the epidemic. In the United States, women make up approximately 25 percent of the people living with HIV. Globally, the statistics are quite different; 52 percent of the people living with HIV are women. Similarly, approximately 50 percent of the new infections every year afflict women.
Perhaps the most sobering statistic: HIV-…
16 October 2018
An academic and a director have teamed up to produce a moving feature-length film highlighting the everyday struggles of women living with HIV in Tanzania, in which two thirds of the cast are HIV positive. The East-African nation has made major inroads in tackling the HIV epidemic over the last decade, with an extensive roll out of free anti-retroviral treatment, but 1.5 million Tanzanians still live with the…