Did you know that 20 million women worldwide are living with HIV

Did you know that 20 million women worldwide are living with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome)? According to the World Health Organization (WHO) fully half of those living with HIV/AIDS are these 20 million women.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that 159,271 adolescent and adult women had AIDS at the end of 2002. The extent of U.S. AIDS cases in adolescent and adult women almost quadrupled from seven percent in 1985 to 26 percent in 2002. The good news is that, despite these figures, AIDS cases in adolescent and adult women fell by 17 percent during this time and have leveled off as a result of successful antiretroviral therapies which help to prevent the progression of HIV to AIDS.

Sadly, almost ten percent of AIDS cases reported to the CDC through December 2002 occurred in women who were aged 25 or younger. While women of Hispanic or African-American decent make up less than 25 percent of the U.S. female population, they account for over 82 percent of AIDS cases in women.

How is HIV transmitted?

Worldwide, the primary method of HIV transmission is through heterosexual intercourse with over 90 percent of all adolescent and adult HIV infections occurring in this manner. In the U.S. heterosexual intercourse accounted for 42 percent of new HIV cases in 2002, while 21 percent of new HIV infections in women developed as a result of illegal drug use.

While HIV infection may occur in both sexes during heterosexual intercourse, the risk for women is far greater. The exposure of vaginal mucosal tissue to seminal fluids during sexual intercourse is the most likely culprit for this. In the early days of the AIDS epidemic, previous to the routine screening of blood and blood products for HIV antibodies, HIV occurred in some patients as a result of receiving blood transfusions and blood products.

Other ways HIV is transmitted include:

• Injection of illegal drugs, or sharing or using previously used needles
• Male-to-male sexual intercourse
• Contact with another person’s bodily fluids such as blood, semen, or vaginal secretions (Does not include sweat or saliva.)

Please note that sexual intercourse includes vaginal and anal intercourse, as well as oral sex.

Next page: Symptoms of HIV/AIDS, Protecting Yourself, Getting Tested