Mark Stephens

The latest AIDS epidemic update released by UNAIDS for World AIDS Day shows that the majority of the 40 million are now living with AIDS will soon be female.

Over the past two years, the number of women living with HIV has risen in each region of the world. In some sub-regions up to 60% of HIV positive people are women.

For example, in sub-Saharan Africa, 76% of young people aged 15-24 living with HIV are female. Girls and young women are a least three times more vulnerable to HIV infection than boys and young men.

Traditional prevention strategies, which focus on the so called ABCs of abstention, be faithful and condoms, are clearly failing. This approach is supported by United States government-funded programs.

The report notes that combatting the spread of the AIDS virus must include the economic empowerment of women as financially independent women are more able to refuse unwelcome sexual advances and negotiate protected sex.

In many Third World countries married women have higher rates of infection than their unmarried sexually active peers.

From Green Left Weekly, December 15, 2004.
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