May 2006

Information Targeted to Females

The first National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on March 10, 2006, was a response to an increasing number of new HIV/AIDS cases among girls and women, according to Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “To stop the disturbing trend of an increasingly female HIV/AIDS pandemic, we need new ways of thinking,” he said. Worldwide, 46% of HIV-positive adults are women, and in the U.S., black, Latino, and younger women are disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Fauci suggested an increase in gender-based HIV/AIDS education, adding that more women should participate in clinical trials aimed at understanding how gender affects the transmission of and complications related to the virus.