Preventing AIDS Essay

Words: 1544
Pages: 7

AIDS Essay
Today many people around the world are infected with a serious disease called AIDS. Unfortunately, the disease has led to many deaths worldwide and yet it still remains untreatable. Many Public Health Departments are now taking the lead in publicizing education about AIDS. Public awareness and prevention programs are possible solutions to the spread of AIDS. The issue of this paper is on AIDS Prevention Programs that target women. One outlook is that prevention programs that target women will reduce the number of infections around the world. People opposed to this believe that prevention programs should aim more towards males. The disease is obviously an important social issue which impacts people worldwide.

Certain

Cynthia Gomez, professor for the AIDS Prevention Center at the University of California at San Francisco. "They don't realize they're at risk, partly because we've only emphasized certain groups, rather than behaviors."

Women are vulnerable to infection for their lack of power within sexual relationships and sexual violence. Women’s lack of power makes it difficult for them to negotiate safer sex with partners. Women tend not to discuss condom use within relationships in fear of rejection or loss of economic support. When women are in committed relationships, they mainly focus on the intimacy in their relationship. They assume they are in a monogamous relationship with their partner. Unsafe sex becomes more important than protection against HIV. This dependence of men increases the risk of AIDS for women. A report from Secretary General of the United Nation, Kofi Annan concluded, "The gender dynamics of the epidemic are far-reaching due to women's weaker ability to negotiate safe sex, and their generally lower social and economic status." Studies in Africa have uncovered that many married women have been infected by their husband. The powerlessness of women to reject sex with their husband has been a major cause of transmission to women.

Women's dependence on men makes women less able to protect themselves against AIDS. Typically, men make most decisions about when,