The Young, Female Face of HIV in East and Southern Africa

Gender inequalities explain why prevention is failing to contain HIV infection among young women in East and Southern Africa. UNAIDS calls for a major effort to reduce their risk of infection. Credit: Mercedes Sayagues/IPSBy Miriam GathigahNAIROBI, Nov 7 2014 (IPS)Experts are raising alarm that years of HIV interventions throughout Africa have failed to stop infection among young women 15 to 24 years old.“Prevention is failing for young women,” says Lillian Mworeko, HIV expert with International Community of Women Living with HIV in Eastern Africa, based in Uganda.Among women in East and Southern Africa, four out of ten new HIV infections among women aged 15 years and over happen among  those aged 15 to 24, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).Worryingly, HIV infection rates among young women are double or triple those of their male peers. In South Africa, the HIV prevalence of 18 percent among women aged 20-24 is three times higher than in men of the same age. The failure of prevention: young women and HIV in East and Southern Africa In Lesotho, HIV prevalence of four percent among adolescent girls rises four-fold by the time they are 24. In Botswana, the number of women newly infected with HIV (6,200 in 2012) has only declined by 14 percent since 2009. The age of consent for marriage is 15 years in Malawi and Tanzania. Nearly half of all girls in Malawi are married by age 19. In South Africa, within the 25- 29 year age group, HIV ...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: Global & Universal Authors: Tags: Africa Aid Countdown to ZERO Development & Aid Editors' Choice Featured Gender Headlines Health Population Projects Regional Categories Women's Health Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation International Community of Women Source Type: news