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March 10 Is National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

Tuesday, March 10, is National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NWGHAAD), an annual opportunity to call attention to the impact of HIV and AIDS on women and girls worldwide.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), women and adolescent girls (aged 13 and older) accounted for just under one-quarter of all people living with HIV in the U.S. and 1 in 5 new infections, most of which are attributable to heterosexual contact.

African-American women make up both the highest proportion (more than 60%) and largest number (more than 6000) of new infections, and heterosexual black women are about twice as likely to become infected as heterosexual black men. The good news is that the HIV incidence rate among women has declined between 2009 and 2013.

While an estimated 88% of women living with HIV have been tested and diagnosed, just 32% have achieved viral suppression on antiretroviral therapy (approximately the same proportions as HIV positive Americans overall).

Resources:

• Aids.gov: National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day;
• AIDSinfo: National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day;
• CDC: HIV Among Women fact sheet;
• CDC: National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day;
• DHHS Office on Women's Health: National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day;
• Twitter: #NWGHAAD.

3/10/15

Source

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HIV Among Women. Fact sheet. Updated March 6, 2015.