4 October 2018
Research involving 60 prevention of mother-to-child (PMTCT) outreach workers describes numerous and persistent challenges facing pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV. The study is the first from India to focus solely on outreach worker experiences.
Researchers conducted focus groups with outreach workers in Maharashtra, a state in western and central India with an antenatal HIV prevalence of 0.5%,…
Epidemics of HIV and HPV are inherently interconnected, and when they meet in the context of weak health systems, their effects serve to amplify each other. Both HIV and cervical cancer present significant public health threats to women in sub-Saharan Africa. But while the threat of HIV is well documented, and the mass mobilisation of resources to treat HIV, unprecedented, cervical cancer is a relatively new and developing challenge for the…
1 October 2018
First Lady of Ghana, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo has called for education and skills development programmes to empower young girls and women to enable them engage in income generating activities.
This, she said, would make girls and women better informed to take decisions about their sexuality saying “being empowered will help women and adolescents make wise choices to help them ‘stay’ free from HIV.
Speaking in…
4 October 2018
Adolescent girls and young women in South Africa are more susceptible to contracting HIV than their male counterparts. This article takes a gendered look at the HIV epidemic in South Africa and the challenges adolescent girls and young women face which contribute to their high rate of new infections. It is important to recognize that that patriarchy and traditional male norms create a gender inequity which informs these…
Since its announcement, Undetectable equals Untransmittable (U=U) has become a call to action to assert that when someone living with HIV has an undetectable viral load they cannot transmit HIV. Additionally, the U=U message is evolving to challenge notions of HIV infectivity, vulnerability and stigma. The science behind the U=U message provides the evidence that we can reduce the anxiety related to the sexual transmission of the HIV virus…
What Women Want is a global advocacy campaign to improve quality maternal and reproductive healthcare for women and girls and strengthen health systems. Launched on April 11, 2018—International Maternal Health and Rights Day—What Women Want sets out to query one million women and girls worldwide—from capital cities to rural villages—about their top priority for quality maternal and reproductive health services until the end of March 2019.…
15 September 2018
India's newly released HIV/AIDS Estimation Report (2017) shows an increase in the number of people living with HIV (211,700 in 2015 to 214,000 in 2017) and AIDS-related deaths (67,612 in 2015 to 69,110 in 20170) and a marginal decline in infections. At the current pace of progress, India will miss the global target of 75 per cent reduction in new HIV infections from the base value in 2010.
A major take-…
8 August 2018
A quality education is essential for children, but for girls at risk of HIV, it is a necessary and lifesaving measure. Girls and young women across the world remain one of the most vulnerable populations for HIV. There are 1.1 billion girls in the world and every four minutes, three girls become infected with HIV. Girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa are 14 times more likely to be infected by HIV than their male…
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. …