Today is World AIDS Day, marking 25 years of HIV/AIDS awareness. The number of people living with HIV continues to rise worldwide--in part because of new therapies that can delay the onset of AIDS--but the disease continues to spread.
Women bear a disproportionate share of the burden of this disease. According to UN figures, more adult women than ever before are now living with HIV. The 17.7 million women living with HIV in 2006 represent an increase of over one million compared with 2004. These numbers don't account for uninfected women who are the primary caregivers for loved ones with AIDS: their lives, too, are deeply affected by the disease.
This article in today's San Francisco Chronicle describes a Bay Area response to the "epidemic" (CDC's term) of HIV/AIDS in the African American community.
Here are resources and info about women and HIV/AIDS:
UNIFEM's resources on gender and AIDS
The Global Coalition on Women and AIDS (UNAIDS)
The Centers for Disease Control
AVERT, an international AIDS charity
Friday, December 01, 2006
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