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Women, inequality, and the burden of HIV.
Ojikutu BO, Stone VE.
N Engl J Med
2005 Feb 17;352(7):649-52.
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PubMed entry
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Reviewed by
Susa Coffey, MD
Comment
HIV/AIDS continues to have a disproportionate impact on women. While this is especially true in resource-poor countries, HIV prevalence rates in women in the United States are increasing, particularly in African American and Hispanic women.
Worldwide, most women are infected through sex with male partners, often in the context of a monogamous partnership. Thus, in many settings, reducing HIV infection risk in women is difficult to accomplish, and the 'A' (abstinence until marriage) and 'B' (be faithful) directives of 'ABC' policies for HIV prevention are not protective of women. Indeed, it is within the bounds of marital fidelity that many women are infected with HIV.
This brief commentary profiles two HIV-infected women: one in South Africa, one in the U.S., and relates the circumstances of their lives as women to the global HIV epidemic among women. It also touches on biologic and sociopolitical factors that heighten women's vulnerability to HIV infection and offers a perspective for remedying disparities in diagnosis and treatment.
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