International Journal of Epidemiology 2002;31:45-48
© International Epidemiological Association 2002
Celebration |
Health rights for women in the age of AIDS
Graduate Center and Hunter College, Department of Anthropology, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA.
Revised for International Journal of Epidemiology from a presentation at Turning the World Around: Public Health, Human Rights and the Establishment of Civil Societies. Columbia University Symposium, 25 May 2001.
Accepted 8 October 2001
Gender inequality continues to fuel the 20-year-old HIV/AIDS epidemic in many countries.1 Although in the US and Western Europe HIV/AIDS predominantly affects men, in 1999, worldwide, UNAIDS reports approximately the same figures for men and for womeni.e. 1.1 million deaths among men and 1.2 million among women.2 In sub-Saharan Africa, prevalence figures estimated by UNAIDS for the numbers of men and women infected with HIV are 10.1 million and 12.2 million, respectively.3 In addition, women are becoming infected with HIV/AIDS and dying at younger ages than men.3 Estimates for southern Africa suggest that 50% of children age 15 now will die of HIV/AIDS and that three times as many girls as boys in the age group 1529 are already infected with the virus.4 However, we are still not able to offer women effective strategies for prevention and governments and non-governmental organizations (NGO) are struggling to develop appropriate counselling and treatment
Methods Women Can Use
Women's Changing Experiences with HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa
Changing Gender Expectations
Acknowledgments
References