Women

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 38.6 million people are living with HIV worldwide. ¹ By the end of 2005, according to the WHO, 17.5 million women worldwide were infected with HIV, over 45% of the world's total. ²

In the 42 U.S. states with confidential name-based HIV infection reporting, women (adults and adolescents) were 30% of new HIV infections in 2004.³

In 1992, women accounted for 13.8% of people living with AIDS; in 2004, that percentage had increased to over 22%. Of the 123,405 women living with HIV/AIDS at the end of 2004, 64% were African American, 19% were white, 15% were Hispanic, less than 1% were Asians and Pacific Islanders, and less than 1% were American Indians and Alaska Natives.⁴

Among female adults and adolescents living with HIV/AIDS (of 35 areas with confidential name-based reporting through 2004), sexual contact accounts for 71% of infections, and injection drug use for 27%.⁵

In addition to facing unique clinical issues, women living with HIV/AIDS are often challenged by social isolation, poverty, discrimination, and lack of access to quality health care.

Featured Links

HIV/AIDS Surveillance in Women (updated slide set)
From CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention

Chlamydia Screening Among Sexually Active Young Female Enrollees of Health Plans - United States, 2000-2007
From CDC's MMWR Weekly; April 17, 2009 / 58(14);362-365

What Are Black Women’s HIV Prevention Needs?
From the University of California San Francisco’s Center for AIDS Prevention Studies

QuickStats: Death Rates for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Disease Among Women, by Race and Age Group—United States, 1987–2005
From CDC’s MMWR Weekly; March 27, 2009 / 58(11);286

HIV/AIDS Among Women
Fact sheet from the Divisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention

HIV/AIDS Among Women Who Have Sex With Women
Fact sheet from the Divisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention

HIV/AIDS and African American Women: A Consultation Supporting CDC's Heightened National Response to the HIV/AIDS Crisis among African Americans: Meeting Report
From CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention

HIV/AIDS and African American Women: A Consultation Supporting CDC's Heightened National Response to the HIV/AIDS Crisis among African Americans: Slide Sets
From CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention

Updated Fact Sheet: Mother-to-Child (Perinatal) HIV Transmission and Prevention
From CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention

HIV/AIDS Surveillance Supplemental Report: Enhanced Perinatal Surveillance—Participating Areas in the United States and Dependent Areas, 2000–2003
From CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention

Common Questions about HPV and Cervical Cancer
Brochure from CDC’s Division of STD Prevention

What are Women Who Have Sex With Women’s HIV Prevention Needs?
From Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, University of California at San Francisco

HIV Infection in Women
From National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Women and HIV/AIDS in the United States
HIV/AIDS policy fact sheet from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

Female Condom
Fact Sheet from the Global Campaign for Microbicides

Public Health Service Task Force Recommendations for Use of Antiretroviral Drugs in Pregnant HIV-Infected Women for Maternal Health and Interventions to Reduce Perinatal HIV Transmission in the United States
From the Department of Health and Human Services' Perinatal HIV Guidelines Working Group

HIV/AIDS Surveillance in Women (through 2006)
Slide set from the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention

A Guide to the Clinical Care of Women with HIV/AIDS
Publication from Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)

¹ UNAIDS. 2006 Report on the global AIDS epidemic
² National Institute on Allergy and Infectious Diseases. HIV Infection in Women
³ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report, 2004. Vol. 16. Atlanta: US Department of Health and Human Services; 2005
⁴ CDC. HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report, 2004. Vol. 16. Atlanta: US Department of Health and Human Services; 2005
⁵ CDC. HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report, 2004. Vol. 16. Atlanta: US Department of Health and Human Services; 2005