AIDS: A Challenge to Women

Once indications, pointers or the symptoms surface or become visible she need not to wait for

the sickness to come but requires to consult the doctor and put on medicines to combat the disease. The step will not push her to carelessness or defeat the purpose. The treat-ment for HIV requires to be initiated before the immune system is damaged and causes sickness, advises WHO. The pressures to begin treatment sooner are always there since it dramatically cuts the transmission of infection to a great extent and reduce the chances of spreading the disease.

Today, women are storming all the male bastions and proving them as equally good and at times superior but they are facing yet another challenge from its gender community in the form of AIDS. This is more serious a challenge because they have to protect their children besides themselves. 

Undesirable Involvement

Women who contribute one half of the humanity have to rise and save the entire mankind. Once we look through historically women have been neglected over the years in HIV/AIDS research care and prevention efforts in US and around the world. A simple look can educate us to learn that the number of women has tripled since the beginning of the epidemic. In 2005, women alone represented 26 per cent of HIV/AIDS diagnosis in comparison to just 8 per cent in 1985. The rising rate of women worldwide is about 46 per cent of people living with HIV/AIDS in 2007 with 15.4 million women. At certain places, within an age group, the percentage of females with HIV/AIDS has already surpassed that of males and studies suggest that the rate of HIV infections in women continues to be on the rise. 

At the end of 2011, an estimated 34 million people were living with HIV worldwide with two-third of them living in sub-Saharan Africa. This reflects the continued large number of them living with a significant expansion of access to anti-retroviral therapy, which has helped to reduce AIDS related deaths, especially in more recent years. The number of people dying of AIDS related causes fell to 1.7 million in 2011, down from a peak 2.2 million in the mid 2005 and alone 7,00,000 AIDS related deaths were averted in 2012.

About 8 million people in low and middle income countries, according to an estimate, are currently receiving HIV treatment reflecting an increase of 63 per cent from 2009 to 2011. Worldwide there were more than 500,000 fewer deaths in 2011 than what was in 2005 and the number of AIDS related deaths declined by nearly one-third during this period.

The efforts as channeled on international level through the Global Fund have been critical by the end of 2012. Global Fund Support Programme had provided 1.7 million HIV positive pregnant women with treatment to prevent transmission to their children with 250 million HIV testing and counseling sessions. The purchase and distribution of 4.2 billion condoms and more than 19 million cases of support services were offered.    

Women were increasingly at the center of the AIDS epidemic in the late  nineties  and threatened to lose about four million from the AIDS diseases a decade ago by the year 2000 as claimed WHO then because about 70 per cent of the 3000 women a day were becoming infected worldwide with AIDS virus and 500 women who were dying daily from AIDS were teens in the age group of 15 to 25 years.

The sexually active women in their teens or early 20s are being infected with the AIDS virus at significantly higher rate than older women or young men in most of the Third World, where AIDS is predominantly a heterosexually transmitted disease. There are as many women infected as men and sometimes more. This shows an ‘ominous ride’ in heterosexual transmission–AIDS cases in women which rose to 10 per cent earlier indicates that only sex became the leading cause of AIDS infection among US women overtaking the sharing of needles by intravenous drug users in 1992.

WHO & UN Opinions  

Women make up almost half of all adults newly infected with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus – the virus that causes AIDS) and millions and millions are becoming infected with the AIDS virus. About more than a decade back Michael Merson, the then Director, WHO’s Global Programming on AIDS claimed that “Women face extra challenge in protecting themselves and their children from HIV”. As infections in women raise so do infections in the infants born to them, he said.  On average worldwide about one-third of babies born to HIV mothers are naturally  infected. 

To support the argument, Michael Merson gave three main reasons to substantiate that HIV infections in women are growing fast worldwide. Firstly, the women are biologically vulnerable since they have larger mucosal surface exposed during sexual intercourse. In addition, the women are epidemiologically vulnerable because they tend to marry or have sex with older men who have had more sexual partners and hence be more risked to be infected. Secondly, Women in the developing world also are more vulnerable to transmission through blood because transfusions are frequently required during pregnancy, childbirth, anemia or hemorrhage. Thirdly, the women are more socially vulnerable because the sexual subordination of women creates an environment in which it is difficult or even impossible for them to protect themselves from sexual transmission through mutual fidelity or condom use.

The young women in developing countries who are sexually active do not have adequate access to healthcares for treatment of lesions or infections, which left untreated, increases the likelihood of HIV infection by up to 50 per cent, according to the UN report. Again, on looking back a decade ago, the then Director of UN HIV and Developing Programme Ms Elizabeth Raid had pointed out that “despite the increasing evidence of the susceptibility of young women to HIV infection little international attention has yet been given to them”.

There is an urgent need to believe in abstinence  is 100 per cent effective in preventing sexual transmission of HIV which means abstaining from sex not to have sex of any type at all.  One should believe in strict monogamous attitude and policy which is the best and safe way. Use of condoms besides strictly adhere to not sharing needles, syringes or any other related thing which brings one in contact with someone’s blood or bodily fluid. Avoid drugs or alcohol with sex.

Recommendations

Women be offered priority in National HIV/AIDS strategies. The public knowledge requires to be enhanced and on contrary the stigma and discrimination be minimised. Women access to HIV testing and counseling services should be increased but women could feel more comfortable seeking services at family planning clinics because of the stigma surrounding by visits to HIV - only service providers. Women access to Healthcares needs increased. Investments in development of female controlled Prevention Methods. Scale up prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT). Further, women need to be ensured about sexual, psychological and physical safety. Ultimately, there rights and involvement in leadership required to be promoted and encouraged.

The development of strategies to lengthen the time before young women have sex, to delay the first pregnancy and to increase the ability of women to control situations in which they are sexually active.  Above all the sexual behaviour needs to be checked. The use of condoms can help to prevent transmission of AIDS to a large extent. Moreover, the safety is ensured in education and a responsible pattern of sexual behaviour especially the monogamy.