Women and Girls: The vulnerable groups

[Njoh Angwi Constance]

Dear all,
good day. In 2007an HIV/AIDS screening survey was carried out in Cameroon. 7819 people were tested for HIV. 1210 were declared positive. Of this number, 915 were women and 215 men. Alarming isn't it.
More action needs to be taken for these figures to reduce.
Think about it.
Constance

[Gaston]

Thank you Constance. What do you think needs to happen for these figures to reduce, given your wide experience? What did we learn so far?

Looking forward to learn more about the situation in Cameroon.
Gaston

[Rituu B. Nanda]

Dear Constance,

Very alarming indeed. Half of all PLHIV globally are now women and this figure rises to over 60 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa, where young women aged 15-24 can be several times more likely to be HIV-positive than their male counterparts. In order to offer women greater protection against the virus, WHO has designed a hands-on tool to integrate gender into AIDS programmes in the health sector. You can read more about it on:
http://www.who.int/gender/documents/20090731_gender_hiv_flyer_en.pdf

Field-tested in five countries (Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Sudan and Tanzania), the new tool helps those planning and implementing HIV programmes to better understand the links between gender inequalities and the virus. The manual also suggests concrete actions to address key gender issues in four service delivery areas: HIV testing and counselling; PMTCT; treatment and care and, home- based care and support for PLHIV.

Warm regards,

Rituu