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WOMEN AND HIV
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SURVEILLANCE |
- Of
the 37,852 estimated new AIDS cases in
2006, 25.9 percent were among women, down
from 26.3 percent in 2002. The estimated
number of AIDS diagnoses among women decreased
1.6 percent from 2002 through 2006, compared
with a 3.9 percent decrease among men.1
- An
estimated 22.2 percent of people living
with AIDS in the United States and dependent
areas in 2006 were women.2
- The
primary transmission category for women
living with AIDS in 2006 was high-risk
heterosexual contact, which accounted
for 65.8 percent of cases.2
The proportion of cases attributable to
high-risk heterosexual contact increased
by 41.3 percent from 2002 to 2006.2
- African-Americans
represented the majority of women living
with AIDS at the end of 2006, at 61.9
percent.3 White and Hispanic
women accounted for 19.3 and 16.6 percent,
respectively.3
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CRITICAL
ISSUES |
Women
with HIV/AIDS may have a harder time accessing
treatment and health care than men. Over 17
million women in the United States are uninsured.
Women who are younger and low-income are particularly
at risk for being uninsured, as are women
of color, especially Hispanic women. As a
result, these women lack sufficient access
to care, get a lower standard of care when
they do enter the health system, and have
poorer health outcomes.4
Minority
women are particularly vulnerable to HIV
infection. Data from the 2000 census indicate
that African-American and Hispanic women
comprise 25.3 percent of all women in the
United States, yet they accounted for over
80 percent of the estimated total AIDS diagnoses
among women in the same year.5,6
Male-to-female
transmission of HIV is between two and four
times more efficient than female-to-male
transmission.7 Women are especially
vulnerable to HIV disease in relationships
in which HIV status is not discussed and
prevention methods are not incorporated.
Beliefs about gender roles, knowledge of
sex and sexuality, level of education, and
employment all play important roles in determining
risk factors and risky behavior.8
Most
women who are HIV positive live in poverty
and were already poor when they learned
their serostatus.9,10 The socioeconomic
status of women negatively influences access
to health care. When women face unmet subsistence
needs (e.g., for housing, food, and child
care), they have little time or resources
to devote to their own health. The impact
on their lives and the lives of their children—and
on older adults who may be in their care—can
be catastrophic.
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HRSA'S
RESPONSE |
In
2006, 33 percent of Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program
clients were female, a total of 295,312 women.
Thirty-one grants totaling $21.8 million were
awarded to providers in 2007 through the Part
D Program for Women, Infants, Children, Youth,
and Families. These grants support providers
in their efforts to deliver family-centered
comprehensive care to children, youth, women,
and their families and help improve access
to clinical trials and research.
The
Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Special Projects
of National Significance (SPNS) Program
has funded an initiative dedicated to innovative
HIV outreach and intervention models. One
of the demonstration sites in this SPNS
initiative, the University of Miami School
of Medicine’s Caring Connections Program,
is specifically investigating innovative
HIV outreach and intervention models
for reaching seropositive women and children
who are not in care or are underserved in
the Miami Family Care Program of the University
of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center.
For more information, see http://hab.hrsa.gov/special/outreach_index.htm.
A
Guide to the Clinical Care of Women with
HIV/AIDS, published by the Health Resources
and Services Administration (HRSA) in 2005,
is the primary textbook on the treatment
of HIV-positive women. The guide is a compilation
by 13 authors and edited by Dr. Jean R.
Anderson of Johns Hopkins University. It
was the first manual written specifically
on the medical treatment of women with HIV.
For
more information on women and HIV/AIDS,
see the July 2004 and December 2004 issues
of HRSA CAREAction, on the Web
at http://hab.hrsa.gov/publications/news.htm.
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END
NOTES: |
1 |
Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report.
2006;18:13. Table 3. |
2 |
CDC.
HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report.
2006;18:22. Table 10. |
3 |
CDC.
HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report.
2006;18:23. Table 11. |
4 |
Henry
J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Fact sheet:
Women’s health insurance coverage.
December 2007. Available at: www.kff.org/womenshealth/6000.cfm.
Accessed June 16, 2008. |
5 |
U.S.Census
Bureau. United States Census 2000. Available
at: www.census.gov/main/www/cen2000.html.
Accessed June 16, 2008. |
6 |
CDC.
HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report.
2006;18:15. Table 5a. |
7 |
Turmen
T. Gender and HIV/AIDS. Int J Gynecol
Obstet. 2003; 82:411-8. |
8 |
Abel
E, Chamber KB. Factors that influence
vulnerability to STDs and HIV/AIDS among
Hispanic women. Health Care Women
Int. 2004;15:761-80. |
|
Siegel
K, et al. Barriers and motivating factors
impacting delays in seeking medical
care among HIV-infected women. Paper
presented at the National Conference
on Women and HIV. Pasadena, CA; May
1997. Abstract 108.1. |
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Solomon
L, et al. Health services use by urban
women with or at risk for HIV-1 infection;
the HIV Epidemiology Research Study
(HERS). J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr.
1998;17:253-61. |
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