To Continue Momentum in AIDS Progress, Efforts Must Reach Women, Girls

"At the XIX International AIDS Conference this week in Washington, D.C., Americans should be proud of what we have done to fight HIV/AIDS around the world, and how, together, we are turning the tide against an epidemic once thought to be invincible," CARE USA President and CEO Helene Gayle writes in this post in Huffington Post's "Global Motherhood" blog. "At CARE, which fights global poverty by empowering women and girls, we have seen women -- particularly young women -- remain disproportionately at risk of contracting the disease," she writes, noting, "The World Health Organization reports that women constitute 60 percent of people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa." She concludes, "Continuing the momentum means staying ahead of the disease and reaching the most vulnerable populations such as the ultra-poor and, in too many places, women and girls" (7/24).