Statement of Anthony S. Fauci, M.D.
Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
National Institutes of Health
on National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
March 10, 2008
Today, we pause to commemorate the third annual National Women
and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and to recognize the female face
of HIV/AIDS in America. Since the epidemic began in the early 1980s,
more than 181,000 women and girls in the United States have been
diagnosed with AIDS, and an estimated 86,000 have died with the
disease.1
In some parts of the world, HIV/AIDS predominately strikes women;
globally, approximately half of all people living with HIV are
female.2 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.3
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 34.1 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.1 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.3
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,3 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. The
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID),
part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), strongly endorses
testing for HIV during routine medical care for adolescents, adults
and pregnant women, as recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.4 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.
Sharing syringes and other equipment for injecting illegal drugs
is the second most common mode of HIV transmission to American
women, directly accounting for approximately one in every five
new female HIV/AIDS cases in 2005.3 Injection
drug use indirectly promotes HIV transmission as well: Since the
AIDS epidemic began, at least 50 percent of all AIDS cases among
women have been attributed to either injection drug use or sex
with partners who inject drugs.3
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. NIAID supports a variety of research designed to
develop new HIV prevention tools specifically for women. One priority
research area is the development of safe, effective and acceptable
microbicides—gels, creams or other substances that women
could utilize before sexual intercourse to prevent the transmission
of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
NIAID also funds research investigating gender-specific differences
in HIV/AIDS progression, complications and treatment, as well as
research to prevent HIV transmission from an infected mother to
her baby—an area in which scientists have made great strides.
Still, there is much work to be done to protect women and girls
from becoming infected with HIV. As a global community, we must
correct the gender-based inequality that places many women at increased
risk. Nationally, we must dramatically lower the rates of HIV/AIDS
among racial and ethnical minorities. Women can take control of
their health by getting routine HIV testing, avoiding illicit drug
use and, when possible, learning their partners’ HIV status
and using protection during sex. These behavioral changes combined
with scientific and socioeconomic advances will help reduce the
vulnerability of all women and girls to this terrible disease.
1. CDC. 2007. CDC HIV/AIDS Fact Sheet: HIV/AIDS
among Women: pp. 1–2.
2. UNAIDS. 2007. AIDS Epidemic Update: December
2007. Geneva: UNAIDS: p. 1.
3. CDC. 2007. HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report,
2005. Vol. 17. Rev ed. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, CDC: pp. 10, 16, 43.
4. CDC. 2006. Revised Recommendations for HIV Testing
of Adults, Adolescents, and Pregnant Women in Health-Care Settings. MMWR 55(RR14):1–17.
Dr. Fauci is director of the National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health in
Bethesda, Maryland.
Media inquiries can be directed to the NIAID Office
of Communications at 301-402-1663, niaidnews@niaid.nih.gov.
NIAID is a component of the National Institutes of Health. NIAID
supports basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose and treat
infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted
infections, influenza, tuberculosis, malaria and illness from potential
agents of bioterrorism. NIAID also supports research on basic immunology,
transplantation and immune-related disorders, including autoimmune
diseases, asthma and allergies.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's
Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and
Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting
and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research,
and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both
common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and
its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
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