AIDS More women than men are infected with HIV

More than half of those infected with HIV are women

More women than men are infected with HIV worldwide. Scientists call for gender-specific AIDS research.
More than half of all HIV-infected people are women: Worldwide, around 22.5 million people suffer from the immunodeficiency syndrome AIDS. More than half of those affected are women and girls. That's why it's important to reinforce one „Women's specific“ Advancing HIV research, as a speaker of the German Competence Network called HIV / AIDS on the occasion of the upcoming World AIDS Day.

On the first of December 2010 is the World AIDS Day. Almost 23 million people are currently infected with the HI virus worldwide. More than half of all infected and infected people are girls and women. In this context, Norbert Brockmeyer of the Competence Network HIV / AIDS on Monday in Bochum urgently requested one „Increased women-specific HIV research“ advance. Women are much more likely to be infected with the still incurable virus than men. According to the scientific competence network, the risk of infection worldwide is far higher for societal and anatomical reasons than for men.

The gender distribution of infections, however, there are significant differences in global comparison. In Germany and in the other Western industrialized nations, men are apparently infected by the AIDS-causing virus. 80 percent of those affected are according to the latest surveys men. In sub-Saharan Africa, women are up to eight times more likely to be infected than men.

Specifically, the German Competence Network currently deals with pregnant HIV-infected patients. An essential aspect of the research is whether HIV medical treatment can be optimized on a gender-specific basis. Some research indicates that there may be differences in treatment effects in men and women. The Competence Network HIV / AIDS (KompNet HIV / AIDS) is one of 18 competence networks in medicine funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

According to current information from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), around 70,000 people in Germany live with the HI virus or the immune deficiency disease AIDS. In 2010, around 3,000 people were newly infected with the deadly virus. Currently, the rate of new infection is stagnating, as the numbers remained the same as in previous years.

Meanwhile, the German Aids-Hilfe warned against further austerity measures in the counseling services for those affected. In the federal states of Thuringia, Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia there are indications that the state governments want to provide less financial resources. Through these cuts, it could happen that numerous advice centers would have to close. So a spokesman said „If the current benefits are further reduced, AIDS counseling in some districts will probably no longer be possible in the future.“ Such cuts could significantly reduce the previous successes in the struggle in AIDS. (sb, 29.11.2010)

Also read:
AIDS: drug to protect against HIV infection
70,000 people in Germany suffer from AIDS
Precursors of AIDS viruses tens of thousands of years old
AIDS: SI virus is considered a precursor to HIV
Why some people do not get AIDS despite HIV
World AIDS Day: more solidarity demanded
AIDS: No fate with real antibodies?

Picture credits: Baumgeist