U.S. Positive Women’s Network Advocates to Count HIV+ Women In on World AIDS Day 2011

Every 35 minutes a woman tests positive for HIV in the United States. The disease disproportionately impacts women of color, women who are transgender and women with low incomes.  While women account for about 30% of HIV cases nationally, women’s needs are often overlooked in the epidemic. The cumulative number of women living with HIV in the U.S. has steadily grown from 174,837 in 2001 to 265,068 in 2007, according to the Center for Disease Control. Public Health of Seattle & King County reports that in 2010, 1,509 women living with HIV/AIDS in Washington – 14 percent of all people living with HIV in the state. While this is lower than the 27 percent national average, infection rates in Washington are increasing.

The theme for this year’s World AIDS Day is “Getting to Zero,” which means zero new infections, zero discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths. “But instead we are getting to zero funding for necessary programs that save women’s lives,” says Sylvia Young, a woman living with HIV and Women Organized to Respond to Life-threatening Diseases (WORLD) Peer Advocate.

The HIV pandemic is a human rights crisis. Many women living with HIV suffer from gender-based violence, stigma and discrimination, reproductive-rights violations, and lack of employment opportunities. Late diagnosis leads to women getting into care late, getting sick faster, and dying sooner. Experts also say this is bad for HIV prevention efforts. “Data released earlier this year shows us HIV-positive people in care and on treatment are unlikely to transmit the virus.  But almost three-quarters of people with HIV in the U.S. aren’t getting regular care or treatment.  And now funding is being cut for essential peer-based support groups and services that we know keep HIV-positive women in care [– programs like BABES Network-YWCA]. This is bad for people living with HIV and for community health,” says Cynthia Carey-Grant, Executive Director of WORLD, an Oakland-based organization that has been serving HIV-positive women since 1991.

The economic crisis has had grave consequences for women living with HIV. Nationally and locally, several organizations providing essential services to HIV-positive women have closed their doors in the past year or cut back on programs. As the U.S. navigates a volatile election year, women-focused services have become a political football.  The result? Though women make up more than 27 percent of HIV cases in the U.S., women are rapidly becoming invisible in HIV funding, programs, services, leadership and data. 

Women living with HIV demand to be counted. All women living with HIV matter and have a right to live a healthy and high-quality life free from stigma and discrimination. We demand that women be counted in HIV planning, services, data, budgets, and leadership to achieve high-quality health care that upholds our rights. We as women living with HIV stand in sisterhood and solidarity to make this happen. Count Us In!

On World AIDS Day, December 1^st, 2011, United States Positive Women’s Network (PWN), a national membership body of women living with HIV and allies, launches Count Us In!, a national campaign to ensure that HIV-positive women have full access to high quality healthcare that upholds their rights. Throughout the U.S., PWN will unveil:

• A video series of HIV-positive women leaders from across the country speaking out;
• A photo series featuring HIV-positive women and allies; and
• A petition drive – sign-on and show your support!

Can We Count On You?