Blog #3 HIV/AIDS __ making it even harder to be a woman

amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research (http://www.amfar.org/), is a nonprofit organization that supports AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and sound AIDS-related public policy. I remember in the early 1980’s when HIV/AIDS first made its appearance in the United States. I don’t remember this part, but according to amfAR, the media (and others) initially called it GRID – Gay Related Immune Deficiency, or “gay cancer”. We now know it was a mistake to tie the disease only to the gay population, but that was the early view of it. Although I have always been concerned about this health issue, it never really affected me personally until just recently when the 32 year old fiancé of my cousin’s daughter was diagnosed with pneumocystis pneumonia, an AIDS related opportunistic infection. He has full-blown AIDS, but never knew he was HIV+. He denies any IV drug use or homosexual contact, so it appears he contracted the virus from one of a great many casual heterosexual contacts during his twenties. So far, his young bride-to-be has tested negative for the virus, for which we are very grateful. But that doesn’t remove the grim fact that if he (and their relationship) even survives this crisis, their lives will be centered around living with and managing this diagnosis. On Dec. 31, 1981, there were 159 confirmed cases of AIDS in the US, with 121 deaths. Being HIV positive was an inescapable death sentence. In 1983, the CDC added a new member to the list of high risk individuals – female partners of men with AIDS. Also in 1983, there was a major outbreak of AIDS in both men and women in central Africa. In 1991, WHO estimated that there were 10 million people infected with HIV worldwide. In 1996, the U.N. estimated that 22 million people were infected. In 1999, despite somewhat less dismal news in the US, in more than 27 countries the HIV infection rate had doubled since 1996 and 95% of all HIV infected people lived in developing countries. At the end of the 20th century in the US, 23% of AIDS cases were in women but in sub-Sahara Africa, 55% of those HIV positive were female, most of whom still to this day have very little access to medical care or treatment. 2002 – worldwide, half of all HIV+ adults were women. 2004 – 15 million children had been orphaned by AIDS. Today, an unprecedented number of individuals are LIVING with HIV (good news) and more than half of them are women (bad news). The turbulent history of HIV/AIDS is relatively short and while things have improved for men, for women in developing countries the prognosis has gone downhill. In the US the story is taking a turn for the better because of the availability of preventive practices and drugs for treatment; unfortunately, in the rest of the world, the story is less than rosy, particularly for women and children. I am affected by the occurrence of AIDS in the US in a round about way and there is hope for survival. Globally, the HIV/AIDS epidemic lurks on every woman’s doorstep, and it’s still a merciless killer.