January 7, 2009

National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day


It appears that I may be doing some work for a client to publicize the fourth annual National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day in March 2009. It is an effort to recognize the female face of HIV/AIDS in America. Since the epidemic began in the early 1980s, more than 200,000 women and girls in the United States have been diagnosed with AIDS, and over 90,000 have died with the disease.

In some parts of the world, HIV/AIDS predominately strikes women; globally, approximately half of all people living with HIV are female. Although that is not the case in the United States, women represent more than a quarter of all new annual HIV/AIDS diagnoses in this country. In 2005, nearly 10,000 U.S. women and adolescent girls (13 years of age and older) were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.

HIV/AIDS disproportionately affects women of color in the United States. For example, in 2004 AIDS was the leading cause of death for Black women ages 25 to 34. The following year, African Americans accounted for roughly two-thirds of the nearly 127,000 U.S. women living with HIV/AIDS, even though only 13 percent of U.S. women are African American. For Hispanic women living in the United States, HIV/AIDS is also a significant health issue. In 2005, Hispanic women were diagnosed with AIDS at more than five times the rate of white women in the United States.

Sex with an HIV-infected male partner is the leading mode of HIV transmission to women and adolescent girls. Approximately 80 percent of new female HIV/AIDS cases diagnosed in 2005 in the United States arose through heterosexual sex, and surveys suggest that many of the men involved did not know they were infected with HIV.

It is crucial for women to know both their own HIV status and the HIV status of their sexual partners. Hopefully, testing for HIV takes place during routine medical care for adolescents, adults and pregnant women. The early diagnosis of HIV not only has the potential to help prevent transmission by motivating infected people to modify their behavior, but also creates the opportunity to start treatment promptly, control the virus, make informed choices about childbearing and prolong life.

Tragically, some women find themselves in situations in which they lack the power to protect themselves from sexual transmission of HIV. They may be forced into sex, their male partners may refuse to wear condoms, or their partners may prevent them from using female condoms.

There are many ways women and girls can take action in the fight against HIV/AIDS:
  • get tested for HIV
  • practice safe methods to prevent HIV
  • decide not to engage in high risk behaviors
  • talk about HIV prevention with family, friends, and colleagues
  • provide support to people living with HIV/AIDS
  • get involved with or host an event for National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day in your community

Is this a message that resonates with the female villagers who visit my blog? Can you help raise the awareness of this issue in your sphere of influence over the coming days and weeks? What say u?

8 comments:

Mac Daddy Tribute Blog said...

Great post, Wayne. If the rate was that high for white women, we'd be hearing about this all the time. I applaud you for getting involved. I'm going to see how I can be supportive in my community. Thanks

LISA VAZQUEZ said...

Hi there Villager,

There were many posts that appeared on many blogs last month for World AIDS Day.

I believe that the issue of AIDS/HIV transmission among black women in this country has many, many cultural layers that we really haven't even begun to unpeel...

There are unmet emotional needs that cause a level of desperation in black women that fuel exploitative emotional contracts being unheld with black men they choose to allow in their lives...these men often tell them that good black men are scarce and that they won't find anyone easily...

This is psychological warfare so that the woman will accept whatever relationship terms are presented to them...

Many women have settled for substitute love...men who are just passing through, getting sex, giving them minimal attention...these women do not ask their sexual partners about their sexual history.

If a man tells them his sexual history, the woman often does not take the time to fully investigate and verify what she is being told.

Loneliness drives many women to be less selective in their sexual behaviors...even women who don't see themselves as promiscuous or "loose". I encounter many women in the church setting who are utterly shocked to hear that women who have "illegitimate children" (yes, an archaic term!) by multiple men are often perceived as having low standards with men. "Really?!" they exclaim. It never crossed their minds that four children by four different men is perceived as a moral lapse...

I haven't even BEGUN to go into the issues about black male sexual behavior...

There are just so many issues, Villager, that we have to really delve into if we are serious about discussing women and AIDS in the black community.

Peace, blessings and DUNAMIS!
Lisa

Unknown said...

MacDaddy - One thing we should all know is that our community will never be what it needs to be unless we start pulling the oars ourselves. We can no longer wait on others. My hope is to live out the principles of Kwanzaa 365 days a year through this blog. Anyhow, I'm glad you are motivated to action by this blog post...

LisaYou lay out many of the issues that impact our community when it comes to HIV/AIDS. I participated in the 'Day of Blogging' for World AIDS Day in 2007 and 2008. I hope to partipate in Feb 2009 when the national focus is on AIDS impact in Black community. Quite frankly, until this week I was unaware of this HIV/AIDS Awareness Day in March. I agree that our daughters and sisters need to understand more about this deadly disease and how to avoid it in the first place...

Unknown said...

There is also studies that show a direct correlation between cities or town that have high incarceration rates of black men with high rates of HIV infection of black women. Great Post.- Julius

Unknown said...

Julius - Get outta here?!? What possible correalation could exist between HIV/AID-women and Jail-men ???

Unknown said...

Wayne, view this Data by David Alain Wohl, MD
University of North Carolina
Center for AIDS Research (CFAR)
Criminal Justice Working Group

docme.mc.duke.edu/presentations/Wohl.ppt

Its full of graphs and charts on the HIV and Incarceration epidemic. - Julius

Unknown said...

Julius - Thank you for sharing the link to the research. I'm heading over to check it out...

Unknown said...

All - I did get the contract! In these hard economic times ... it is nice to have a new client!