Women in Bangladesh at Increasing Risk for HIV Infection.

Bangladesh has a low prevalence of HIV/AIDS, though the country is seeing signs of the epidemic. At the 49th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, held in Houston, Texas, the issue of AIDS awareness was discussed by many researchers working in India. Shakeel Mahmood, of the National AIDS Committee in Bangladesh expressed concern in his own investigation that the women of Bangladesh are "extremely vulnerable."

"An epidemic of HIV/AIDS has already started in this region. Bangladesh continues to be a low prevalence area. Sexually active girls are practicing unprotected sex with multiple partners. However, almost all the determinates for an explosive outbreak of an HIV/AIDS epidemic have been found to exist in the country. Here, we have a very high prevalence of [sexually transmitted diseases] and [respiratory tract infections], indicating the country's increased susceptibility to HIV/AIDS," Mahmood reported.

Mahmood noted that, as of November 1999, there were 126 infected people living in Bangladesh. Females make up 17% of those infected, and most of these women are housewives who were infected by their husbands, the researcher reported ("Women and HIV/AIDS in Bangladesh -- A global review").

Women are vulnerable, Mahmood explained, because of several factors. They are ignorant of the virus, and illiteracy exacerbates this lack of information. Many ...