National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day 2012
National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day 2012
National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day has just passed, a day to recognize the special risks HIV/AIDS pose for women and girls, and to raise awareness of the disease's impact on them.
HIV among Women and Girls
National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is a time (March 10) each year when organizations and communities across the United States come together to offer support, encourage discussion, and teach women and girls about prevention of HIV, the importance of getting tested, and how to live with and manage HIV and AIDS.
In 2009, women comprised 51% of the US population and accounted for 23% of new HIV infections. Of the total number of new HIV infections among women, 57% were among black women, 21% were in white women, and 18% were in Latina women. The rate of new HIV infections among black women was 15 times as high as that of white women and over 3 times as high as that of Latina women in 2009.
The following personal factors may also put all women at risk for HIV, regardless of age, race, or ethnicity:
- Women who have experienced sexual abuse may use drugs as a coping mechanism, find it difficult to refuse unwanted sex or exchange sex for drugs.
- Having a sexually transmitted disease greatly increases the chances of HIV.
- Social determinants of health like poverty or limited access to high-quality health care; the exchange of sex for drugs, money, or to meet other needs; and higher levels of substance use can increase HIV risk.
- Unprotected vaginal sex puts women at risk for HIV, and unprotected anal sex places women at an even greater risk for HIV transmission.
CDC is committed to ensuring that all women, especially populations that are most heavily affected, are armed with the tools necessary to prevent HIV.
Posted by
George Daniels
on Monday March 12 2012, 5:24 AM EDT.
Ref: CDC.
Link.
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Filed under Featured News, Health.
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