Education needed to combat AIDS
By Marina Cameron
Recent reports from Brazil indicate that lack of education is a significant factor in the growth of AIDS, particularly amongst women.
Of the first AIDS cases registered in Brazil in 1983, one in 40 were women. The proportion is now one woman in five cases. "If this trend continues, we can expect a ratio of one in two by the year 2000", commented a spokesperson of the Ministry of Health.
The increase comes partly from more women becoming infected while using injectable drugs, particularly since the mid-1980s, and 53% of cases now come from heterosexual relationships. AIDS in Brazil is predominantly hitting women with low formal education.
Statistics indicate that the overall death rate from AIDS in Brazil went down in 1996. This has been attributed to the use of a new drug combination cocktail and increased public health resources allocated to combating the disease. However, death rates are significantly worse amongst women, those with less formal education and those living in poorer areas.
In poorer neighbourhoods, the number of women who died from the disease increased by 50.3% between 1994 and 1996. In neighbourhoods where most have a higher level of formal education, male mortality went down by 23% over the same period. More access to formal education leads to easier access to work, income, information, housing and health services, which help to reduce the mortality of the disease.
[Based on information from News from Brazil.]