Facts on the impact of
HIV/AIDS on women and girls,
with related links

Women and young girls in Zimbabwe, India, Peru and other developing countries are the most vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections and the HIV contagion sweeping the developing world. The statistics are staggering. Among adolescents, teenage girls are infected at a rate five to six times greater than their male counterparts. In some regions, one woman in five in her early 20s is infected with the virus - a large proportion of these young women will not live to see their 30th birthday. At the end of 1999, an estimated 13.2 million children under age 15 lost their mothers, or both parents, as a result of AIDS. Simply being married can be a huge risk factor for infection among women.

The primary reason for this enormous discrepancy in infection rates between men and women is gender inequity in social and economic status. The story of young girls trading sex in return for material favors to survive is a common reality in many regions. In order to reverse the tide of HIV/AIDS, and other sexually transmitted infections, and make significant and sustained advances in the reproductive health of women worldwide, health programming must attend to the status of women and girls in society.

For additional information, we suggest:

Multilaterals

• From the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS):

  • 2005 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic

  • Fact Sheet: AIDS Epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Fact Sheet: Women and AIDS - A Growing Challenge

  • Fact Sheet: HIV Prevention

• XV International AIDS Conference, July 11-14, 2004

  • "A Pandemic within the Pandemic," Statement by Stephen Lewis, UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, July 11, 2004.

  • “Africa-Asia Interaction, lessons to be learned,” Statement by Stephen Lewis, UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, July 12, 2004.

• From the Alliance for Microbicide Development:

  • Bibliographies of related articles in journals and in the media *

• From the Kaiser Family Foundation

  • Fact Sheet: Women and HIV/AIDS in the United States *

  • Fact Sheet: The HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the United States *

  • Fact Sheet: HIV Testing in the United States*

  • Fact Sheet: The Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic *

  • Fact Sheet: The Global Impact of HIV/AIDS on Youth *

  • Fact Sheet: Survey of Young South Africans About HIV *

  • Facts at a Glance: The HIV/AIDS Epidemic *

• From US government agencies:

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

    • Information on CDC's Global AIDS Program

    • Slide series: HIV/AIDS Surveillance in Women

    • Fact Sheet: HIV/AIDS Among Women in the United States

    • Fact Sheet: HIV/AIDS & U.S. Women Who Have Sex With Women

    • Fact Sheet: Young People at Risk: HIV/AIDS Among America’s Youth

    • National Prevention Information Network (NPIN)

  • From the HIV/AIDS Bureau of the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA):

    • A Guide to the Clinical Care of Women With HIV: 2001 Edition

    • Stigma & HIV

  • From the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its Office of AIDS Research (OAR):

    • Gender and HIV Viral Load Workshop.  San Francisco, January 29, 2000. Summary Report

    • National Institutes of Health FY 2005 Plan for HIV-Related Research *

    • HIV Prevention Science Agenda *

    • HIV/AIDS Statistics

  • From the US Agency for International Development (USAID):

    • Discussion Paper: Microfinance and HIV/AIDS, by Joan Parker (May 2000) *

    • Report to Congress - Mother to child transmission *

    • Report to Congress - Children affected by AIDS *

    • Children on the Brink - Executive Summary (a report on children orphaned by AIDS) *