UNAIDS: The First 10 Years

UNAIDS The First 10 Years214 The ‘feminization’ of the epidemicThe numbers of women becoming infected with HIV had been increasing in every region sincebefore 1996. In 1997, 48% of adults (15+) living with HIV were women 9 ; by 2004, nearly half of alladults (15+) living with HIV between 15 and 49 years of age were women – in Africa, the figurerose to 59% 10 . Currently, infection rates among women are rising faster than among men. In theRussian Federation, one of the worst-affected countries in Eastern Europe, women accountedfor an increasing share of new cases – up from one in four in 2001 to one in three only one yearlater 11 . Globally, in 2004, about 5000 women were being infected every day.Ensuringthat women’sprevention needsare met hasbeen particularlychallenging.Ensuring that women’s prevention needs are met has been particularly challenging. Obaidexplained: “The concept of ABC: ‘abstain, be faithful and use condoms’ is not sufficient.For instance, if women are married, they cannot abstain; they might be faithful buttheir husbands who may not be faithful and refusing to use condoms willbring HIV into the home. So we promote women-controlled preventionmethods such as the female condom and microbicides and women’srights to counter the inequality, discrimination and violence they faceand that fuel the pandemic. Again, this is the challenge that we face– that of changing mindsets and behaviours”.From the early days of the epidemic, women’s vulnerability toHIV had been recognized. In 1990, the World Health Assemblyof the World Health Organization (WHO) had urged states to‘strengthen the involvement of women by including in nationalAIDS committees a representative of women’s organizations’.Under pressure from feminist organizations, the InternationalAIDS Conference of 1992 (held in Amsterdam), for the firsttime, gave the position of women a central place in theAIDS response 12 . UNAIDS and others had emphasizedthat gender inequality and the low status of womenremain two of the principal drivers of the epidemic.Much later, at the United Nations General AssemblySpecial Session (UNGASS) on AIDS in 2001, Member States hadagreed that gender equality and women’s empowerment were fundamentalto ensuring an effective response to AIDS and specific pledges had been made, such aspromoting women’s rights. However, despite some progress, women’s concerns were toooften sidelined or just ignored by those working on AIDS.9UNAIDS (2004). Global Report 2004. UNAIDS, Geneva.10Ibid.11Ibid.12Global AIDS News 1992, No. 3; in John Iliffe (2007). The African AIDS Epidemic: A History. London, James Currey.