March 8, 2017 BY imani leave a comment
In support of International Women’s Day on March 8th, the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) and UNAIDS has called for support for women living with and affected by HIV / AIDS.
Nearly 1 million women have become infected with HIV and only half of all women living with HIV have access to lifesaving treatment—making AIDS now the leading cause of death worldwide among women between the ages of 30 and 49.
UNAIDS released a report which shows that globally in 2015, there were 18.6 million women and girls living with HIV, 1 million women and girls became newly infected with HIV and 470,000 women and girls died of AIDS-related illnesses. The report shows that women are more vulnerable to HIV than men, domestic violence and sexual abuse have been shown to increase the risk of HIV among women, and in high HIV prevalence settings women who experience intimate partner violence are up to 50% more likely to acquire HIV.
Director-General of NACA, Dr. Sani Aliyu, said: “Currently, women constitute 59% of HIV positive individuals; they assume the major share of care-giving for HIV positive family members or relatives and are biologically, economically and socially more vulnerable to HIV infection than men.”
Aliyu noted that gender inequalities are key drivers of the epidemic in several ways; this is evidenced in the persistent, disproportionate and higher HIV incidence and prevalence rates among women.
He added, “Be bold to know your HIV status. Make positive changes to live a positive and healthy life if you are HIV positive and if you are not, then stay negative by learning how to protect yourself from HIV infection.”
“Women are leading change in increasing demand for and access to HIV and health services. This movement needs to grow to allow families to thrive, societies to flourish and economies to progress,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “Women’s rights are human rights—no exceptions.”
UNAIDS is working with a broad range of partners, including governments, civil society, the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, to ensure that women and girls everywhere are empowered and enabled to protect themselves against HIV and that all women and girls living with HIV have immediate access to treatment.