One out of every four people living with HIV in the US is a woman according to a new study by the University of California, San Fransisco (UCSF). Further, it is estimated that 30 percent of women living with HIV in the country experience post traumatic stress disorder compared to 5,2 per cent in the general population.
Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha - CNS
The study has broad implications to efforts to turn the tide against the AIDS epidemic across the world in that its expected to shape the discussion on the impact of violence on women’s vulnerability to the disease.
“Women are dying unnecessarily. They can live with HIV, but are dying from the effects of violence in their homes and communities. HIV policies and programmes must prevent and address the effects of gender based violence that weave through women’s lives,” said Gina Brown, a woman openly living with HIV.
According to the study, which focused on approximately 6,000 women living with HIV, intimate partner violence is a disproportionately high cause of death for HIV positive women in the US.
The study concluded that traumatized women fare worse in AIDS treatment more than women who have not suffered traumatic stress. Trauma also puts women in situations where they are more likely to spread the virus.
“For a long time we have been looking for clues as to why so many women are becoming infected with HIV and why so many are doing so poorly despite availability of effective treatment. This work clearly shows that trauma is a major factor in the HIV epidemic among women,” said Edward Machtinger, Director of the Women’s HIV Programme at UCSF in an interview.
Specifically, the study demonstrated that HIV positive women who report recent trauma had more than four times the odds of experiencing virologic failure, a situation where the HIV virus becomes detectable in the blood despite being on antiretroviral mediations.
The study also revealed that women who had suffered recent trauma were almost four times more likely to have had sex with someone without the virus or whose HIV status was unknown to them, and to not always use condoms with these partners.
“Women who report experiencing trauma often do not have the power or self-confidence to protect themselves from acquiring HIV. Once infected, women who experience ongoing abuse are often not in positions of power to effectively care for themselves or to insist that their partners protect themselves. Effectively addressing trauma has the potential to improve the health of HIV positive women and that of the community.”
Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha - CNS
(The author, born in Zimbabwe, is an Editor, a children's writer, poet, playwright, journalist, social activist and publisher. He has extensively written on health. His first published book, 'The Dream Of Stones', was awarded the Zimbabwe National Award for Outstanding Children's Book for 2004)
Published in:
Citizen News Service (CNS), India
Ziviso.worldpress.com
Published in:
Citizen News Service (CNS), India
Ziviso.worldpress.com
