HIV/AIDS incidence rising faster among women in Mekong region than men.

2004 APR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Women in some areas of Asia are contracting HIV infection at a faster rate than men.

"Lack of attention to women's rights is fueling the HIV epidemic," said Kathleen Cravero, deputy executive director of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), speaking at the Mekong Leaders' Consultative Meeting on Women and AIDS on the occasion of International Women's Day, March 8, 2004.

"More young women are becoming infected due, in large part, to a failure to encourage sex education or condom use. Furthermore, prevention strategies that focus exclusively on abstinence, faithfulness, and condom use - all of which are beyond the control of most women and girls - are obviously inadequate to protect them from HIV infection," she said.

While men still represent a majority of those infected in the Mekong region, women are becoming infected at a much faster rate than men. Effective prevention messages and services often do not reach young people, particularly girls, who are the most vulnerable to HIV. Cultural traditions can make it difficult for girls and women to access the information and services required to protect themselves from HIV, according to UNAIDS.

They can also exacerbate the burden of care on women.

"Women carry the burden of care for other family members with AIDS. When women fall ill, however, they are more likely than men to suffer ostracism in their community once their HIV status becomes known. Many lose social protections. HIV positive mothers with infants may continue breastfeeding from fear of being stigmatized if they stop," said Innes Zalitis, country representative for UNICEF in Thailand.

In the Mekong River region - southern China, plus the countries of Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam - 30% of infected adults are women, but the numbers are rising, according to ESCAP, the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.