Women are being let down in efforts to stem HIV/AIDS
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《英国医生杂志》
London
Women in developing countries, and in sub-Saharan Africa in particular, are being let down in efforts to stem the HIV/AIDS crisis because the issues that affect them are being ignored, said representatives of a new pressure group this week.
The ABC prevention strategy (A for Abstinence, B for Be faithful, and C for use a Condom), which is being promoted by some charities in Africa, is wholly inappropriate in many countries where women know little if anything about HIV and are afraid to ask their husband or boyfriend to use a condom, said members of the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS.
Fear of violence and destitution stifles many HIV/AIDS education efforts in countries such as Kenya, Uganda, and Mozambique. Women found to have HIV in these places are often blamed for bringing the virus into the home and are abandoned by their families. Unequal property and inheritance rights also reduce women's security, which can lead them to endure abusive relationships and be left homeless when their partner dies of an AIDS related disease.
"We are deeply concerned that women's issues are still very marginal when it comes to responses to AIDS in the world," said Dr Peter Piot, executive director of the joint United Nations programme on HIV/AIDS. "Because of their lack of social and economic power, many women and girls are unable to negotiate relationships based on abstinence, faithfulness, and use of condoms. It is precisely to address these inequalities and reduce women's vulnerability to HIV that the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS has been created."
About half of the people living with HIV/AIDS in the world are women. But in sub-Saharan Africa women and girls make up 60% of those affected by the disease, he said. In addition, girls and young women are 2.5 times more likely to become infected with HIV than young men.
The coalition, which is made up of activists, government representatives, community workers, and celebrities, hopes to be able teach women negotiating skills to help them assert themselves in the bedroom. It also aims to tackle education issues about HIV with whole communities, so that women no longer fear being tested for HIV and can go forward for treatment and counselling.
Actress Emma Thompson, Ludfine Anyango (national HIV/AIDS coordinator for ActionAid Kenya), and Dr Peter Piot (executive director of UNAIDS Kenya), want AIDS campaigns to tackle women's needs
Credit: ANDY BUTTERTON/PA
Another ambition is to galvanise research into a microbicide, which women could use as a gel, film, sponge, or lubricant to reduce their risk of becoming infected through sex. An estimated 2.5 million cases of HIV infection could be prevented in just three years if a microbicide was available that was only 60% effective, say researchers at the London School for Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. However, research in to a microbicide is severely underfunded, with only $343m (￡190m; 275m) available.
"For me the coalition brings a lot of hope that we can develop strategies and methods that will help women gain control," said Ludfine Anyango, who has HIV and is the national HIV/AIDS coordinator for ActionAid Kenya.
Actress Emma Thompson, an ambassador for ActionAid International, said: "It is utterly disgraceful that no pharmaceutical company has taken up the issue of developing a microbicide. We have to put this power into the hands of the women so that they can have jurisdiction over their own bodies."(Zosia Kmietowicz)
Women in developing countries, and in sub-Saharan Africa in particular, are being let down in efforts to stem the HIV/AIDS crisis because the issues that affect them are being ignored, said representatives of a new pressure group this week.
The ABC prevention strategy (A for Abstinence, B for Be faithful, and C for use a Condom), which is being promoted by some charities in Africa, is wholly inappropriate in many countries where women know little if anything about HIV and are afraid to ask their husband or boyfriend to use a condom, said members of the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS.
Fear of violence and destitution stifles many HIV/AIDS education efforts in countries such as Kenya, Uganda, and Mozambique. Women found to have HIV in these places are often blamed for bringing the virus into the home and are abandoned by their families. Unequal property and inheritance rights also reduce women's security, which can lead them to endure abusive relationships and be left homeless when their partner dies of an AIDS related disease.
"We are deeply concerned that women's issues are still very marginal when it comes to responses to AIDS in the world," said Dr Peter Piot, executive director of the joint United Nations programme on HIV/AIDS. "Because of their lack of social and economic power, many women and girls are unable to negotiate relationships based on abstinence, faithfulness, and use of condoms. It is precisely to address these inequalities and reduce women's vulnerability to HIV that the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS has been created."
About half of the people living with HIV/AIDS in the world are women. But in sub-Saharan Africa women and girls make up 60% of those affected by the disease, he said. In addition, girls and young women are 2.5 times more likely to become infected with HIV than young men.
The coalition, which is made up of activists, government representatives, community workers, and celebrities, hopes to be able teach women negotiating skills to help them assert themselves in the bedroom. It also aims to tackle education issues about HIV with whole communities, so that women no longer fear being tested for HIV and can go forward for treatment and counselling.
Actress Emma Thompson, Ludfine Anyango (national HIV/AIDS coordinator for ActionAid Kenya), and Dr Peter Piot (executive director of UNAIDS Kenya), want AIDS campaigns to tackle women's needs
Credit: ANDY BUTTERTON/PA
Another ambition is to galvanise research into a microbicide, which women could use as a gel, film, sponge, or lubricant to reduce their risk of becoming infected through sex. An estimated 2.5 million cases of HIV infection could be prevented in just three years if a microbicide was available that was only 60% effective, say researchers at the London School for Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. However, research in to a microbicide is severely underfunded, with only $343m (￡190m; 275m) available.
"For me the coalition brings a lot of hope that we can develop strategies and methods that will help women gain control," said Ludfine Anyango, who has HIV and is the national HIV/AIDS coordinator for ActionAid Kenya.
Actress Emma Thompson, an ambassador for ActionAid International, said: "It is utterly disgraceful that no pharmaceutical company has taken up the issue of developing a microbicide. We have to put this power into the hands of the women so that they can have jurisdiction over their own bodies."(Zosia Kmietowicz)