Résumé : By reviewing the epidemiology of AIDS, it is clear that the disease will be among the leading causes of death for women in both developing and developed countries during this decade. The physiology of females increases their vulnerability to the disease, and the inequality experienced by women in many societies makes it impossible for them to control the behavior changes on the part of their male partners which would help protect them from transmission. Females are also victims of cultural practices (such as the use of vaginal astringents or tightening agents) and health beliefs (such as the notion that a man can rid himself of the disease by transmitting it to a woman) which increase their vulnerability. Early age at marriage and child-bearing interferes with a woman's opportunity to acquire education and increases chances of maternal-fetal transmission. The burdens imposed by infertility in societies which prize fertility may lead women to adopt lifestyles which hold sexual danger, such as taking multiple partners or becoming prostitutes. In addition, blood transfusions are unsafe in many developing countries, and women receive a disproportionate share of transfused blood. The psycho-social burden of the disease is greater for women because they must deal with the possibility of transmitting it to their unborn children, and they act as primary care-givers when their children are sick. In order to address this problem, the status of women must be strengthened with support by formal law and policy-makers in society. Women must also have access to appropriate educational programs and the same health care facilities as men. Policy-makers must be apprised of the special threat AIDS poses to women so that men and women can work together to strengthen each other in their efforts to meet the this challenge.
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