11 September 2018
This project, a sub-project of the PEPFAR-funded DREAMS programme in Zimbabwe, came about to help reduce new HIV infections among adolescents and young girls (ages 14-24) by promoting healthy behaviours among men. The aim of the project is to spread positive messages among men, which can shift their attitudes and misconceptions about sexual and reproductive health and related issues that affect them or their partners…
Svitlana Moroz is a Ukrainian women’s rights activist living with HIV. She is one of the founders of the Union of Women of Ukraine affected by HIV “Positive Women” and since 2013 she has coordinated activities for the Eurasian Women’s Network on AIDS.…
12 August 2018
The population of young people (15-24) living in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to double by 2050, a demographic shift dubbed the ‘youth bulge’, or ‘youth wave’, depending on the country. For those working in the HIV response, it presents a worrying challenge, as we have so far failed to control HIV in young people on the continent.
This is particularly true for young women in sub-Saharan Africa, who make up 58% of…
13 August 2018
An Opinion Piece by Rejoice Nharaunda
Globally, women constitute over half of the population of people living with HIV. The trend is the same in sub-Saharan Africa where more than 57% of adults living with the infection are women - with heterosexual sex as the dominant mode of HIV transmission. Additionally, the result of a number of variables, sub-Saharan Africa has a peculiar prevalent…
25 July 2018
"I am … filled with pride, thinking about the countless people who fought for justice, called for equal access to quality health care for all – not just for those who could afford it – and helped transform the AIDS response. So often those advocates were women, remarkable women who were on the frontlines caring for families and communities and calling for change. … They are the heroines whose voices and faces are so…
21 July 2018
Girl Effect’s youth brand in Malawi - has been recognised at the AIDS 2018 pre-conference by winning a Demand Creation Challenge award. Established by OPTIONS* consortium, the awards showcase best-in-class innovative, high-impact communication-based approaches to HIV prevention.
A panel of judges - made up of representatives from USAID, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and others - named Zathu ‘Best Breakthrough…
23 July 2018
Opinion piece by Anne Stagl (the International Center for Research on Women) and Caitlin Bryan (Boston University School of Public Health).
The theme of the International AIDS Conference this week is “Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges.” While AIDS-related deaths have been declining globally and more than 20 million people living with HIV are on life-saving treatment, adolescents living with…
Gendered power dynamics within couple relationships can constrain women from achieving positive sexual and reproductive health outcomes. But little is known about relationship power among adolescents, and tools to measure it are rarely validated among adolescents. We tested the Sexual Relationship Power Scale (SRPS) among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) and examined associations with select health outcomes. A 16-item adaptation of the…
This Comment was written by women living with HIV previously involved in a global values and preferences survey on the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) priorities of women living with HIV in response to the Lancet Global Health's article on "Investing in sexual and reproductive health and rights to reach HIV and universal health coverage goals." It builds on key points highlighted in their survey, Building a Safe House on Firm…
12 July 2018
The United States Embassy together with the office of the First Lady of Namibia will celebrate the enrolment of 1,400 girls into the Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored and Safe (DREAMS) programme. …
20 July 2018
Eastern and Southern Africa remain the regions most affected by the HIV epidemic, accounting for 45 percent of the world’s HIV infections and 53 percent of people living with HIV globally. This was revealed in the newly released Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS report titled, ‘Miles to go – closing gaps, breaking barriers, righting injustices.’ However, the report says there should be a responsibility between…
17 July 2018
Voices from the Field features contributions from scholars and practitioners highlighting new research, thinking, and approaches to development challenges. This piece is authored by Gary M. Cohen, Founder and Board Chair, Together for Girls and Executive Vice President, Global Health, BD (Becton Dickinson and Co.), President, BD Foundation and Dr. Daniela Ligiero, Executive Director and CEO, Together for Girls.…
04 July 2018
Women who survived the war in Northern Uganda are almost twice as likely to be living with HIV compared to their male peers, and are also disproportionately impacted by trauma and depression, reveals new research. Conflict in Northern Uganda in the 2000s between the government and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) resulted in widespread atrocities, human rights violations and death, and saw millions flee to internally…
29 June 2018
In the rolling green hills of the uMgungundlovu district in KwaZulu-Natal lies Vulindlela, a rural community often seen as the epicentre of the HIV and AIDS pandemic in this country. South Africa has the highest number of HIV-infected people in the world, with teenage girls and young women being the hardest hit. For perspective, South Africa’s HIV infection rate is almost 19% of adults. In Vulindlela it is 40%. High…
5 June 2018
Tanzania's Ministry of Health, Community, Development, Gender, Elderly and Children launched a new programme to combat HIV among adolescent girls and young women in the Singida region and to raise public awareness on adolescent girls and young women just out of school.
The programme is being implemented jointly by the Ministry, AMREF, TAYOA, and TACAIDS in partnership with the Global Fund. It is a pilot project for the…
21 June 2018
Indigenous women living with HIV experience everyday incidents of racism that impede their access to care disproportionately to other groups, according to a study involving more than 1,400 women across Canada.This contributes to a loss of Indigenous women along the HIV “cascade of care” – a term used to describe clinical stages of treatment such as diagnosis, retention in care and viral suppression – at a markedly higher…
7 June 2018
Women living with HIV perceive many forms of stigma in addition to HIV-related stigma, according to a qualitative study published in the July edition of Social Science & Medicine. Stigma related to living with HIV intersected with stigma associated with gender, race, poverty, incarceration and obesity, according to the interviewees.
“Our findings highlight the complexity of social processes of marginalization,…
5 June 2018
Women living with HIV in the Sunyani Municipality of Ghana have expressed displeasure over high public stigmatisation and discrimination. According to them, although they have been placed on anti-retroviral therapy, they were going through what they described as serious “mental torture”. During a refresher training organized by the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), more than 15 women living with HIV serving…