March 10, 2009

AIDS Alliance Recognizes National Women and Girls HIV Awareness Day

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Washington, D.C.- In recognition of March 10, 2009 as National Women and Girls HIV Awareness Day, AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth and Families announces the release of a new fact sheet highlighting the impact of HIV/AIDS in women in the United States. March 10 marks an important moment leading up to living in a world without AIDS. 

 

The fact sheet, HIV/AIDS Trends in Women, is available on the AIDS Alliance website www.aids-alliance.org and will be distributed at conferences, workshops, and community events around the country.  

 

HIV is increasingly impacting the lives of thousands of women, both domestically and globally.  In 2001, HIV was the sixth leading cause of death for women aged 24 to 34, as well as the fourth leading cause of death for women aged 35-44 in the United States.  Eight years later, women account for approximately 27 percent of the 40,000 new infections that occur annually within US borders.  Unfortunately, over 84,000 women have already died as a result of this epidemic.

 

The statistics become evermore startling once they are broken down into specific at-risk demographic populations.  The African American and Latino communities are hit especially hard, with African American women accounting for 67 percent, and Latinas accounting for 16 percent of the new HIV infections for women.

 

“AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth and Families is strongly committed to working within the female community to reduce the incidence of HIV, specifically within higher risk populations, such as Latinas and African American women,” said Alelia Munroe, Board President. “HIV/AIDS affects everyone regardless of their serostatus, therefore AIDS Alliance encourages the participation in awareness efforts such as these to further our commitment to one day having a world without AIDS, and further urges community involvement to further these efforts.”

 

As a part of this pledge, AIDS Alliance facilitates several programs to address AIDS in populations most affected, including women. Funded by a cooperative agreement with the Division of Adolescent and School Health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Girls 4 HOPE (Health, Opportunity, Prevention and Education) program, AIDS Alliance works toward increasing the capacity of community-based organizations to initiate and improve the delivery, effectiveness, and sustainability of culturally and linguistically- relevant HIV prevention programs for female African American and Latina youth, aged 13-18 and their families.

 

In addition, the Consumer Leadership Corps Training Program, funded by a cooperative agreement from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), empowers HIV positive women to conduct community workshops aims at assisting people with HIV and their caregivers in accessing medical and other supportive services in their communities and neighborhoods, further enhancing the capacity for consumers to be effective educators of their peers.

 

AIDS Alliance, along with other partners of the NIAID HIV Vaccine Research Education Initiative (NHVREI), also encourages women of all races and ages to educate themselves about the importance of HIV vaccine research and encourages participation in clinical trials by people of all races and ethnicities, genders and socioeconomic backgrounds.  Participation by the populations most highly affected is critical to the success of the endeavor. (For more information visit: www.bethegeneration.org).

 

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Founded in 1994, AACYF is a national non-profit organization whose mission is to advance the partnership between consumers and providers – we are the voice of women, children, youth and families living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.  AACYF works to enhance and expand access to quality, comprehensive, family-centered care to America’s children, youth and families affected by HIV/AIDS, as it represents the nation’s network of over 650 Ryan White Part D funded community-based organizations.  Part D programs serve over 53,000 HIV-affected women, children, youth and families through sites located in 35 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.