UN Warns of Global Health Crisis Among Women Due to HIV

The dramatic rise in HIV infections among women -- primarily because poverty has stripped them of the confidence to demand safe sex -- could bring about a global health crisis, the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) warned today. Since 1985, the percentage of HIV/AIDS patients who are adult women has increased from 35 percent to 48 percent. Sixty percent of the 15- to 24-year-olds living with the disease are women, said UNIFEM. "Women are now firmly in the grip of the HIV/AIDS epidemic," said Stephanie Urdang, UNIFEM's gender and HIV adviser.

Women are much less likely to be financially independent, are fearful of violence by men, and are regarded as socially inferior in many areas of the world. They also typically bear the burden of caring for family members with HIV/AIDS, resulting in girls withdrawing from schools and women working harder than men even when they may be HIV-infected themselves.

Attempting to provide for their children, widowed women are frequently driven into the sex trade. Due to their desperate need for money, "They are often powerless to negotiate safe sex," explained Urdang. "This should be a surprise to no one. Women have always been the most vulnerable group to HIV."

Gender inequity is not limited to Africa and Asia, the continents hardest hit by the epidemic. The US HIV prevalence rate among women has jumped from 20 percent in 2001 to 25 percent in 2003, UNIFEM said, blaming the lack of adequate sexual education in schools and the failure to promote condom use among young people. Eighty percent of infected US women are African-American or Hispanic.

UNIFEM plans to release a comprehensive report on the emerging crisis Wednesday during the 15th International AIDS Conference in Bangkok. The report will call for greater political commitment, funding, and leadership on women's issues.

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