This year's World AIDS Day is dedicated to women

On World AIDS Day, celebrated on December 1st, we are reminded once again that millions of people worldwide live with HIV. Is this right? Probably not. Focusing attention on a critical global issue only once a year is, in fact, akin to ignoring its existence. Each of us must always remember that HIV/AIDS exists and, unfortunately, has not disappeared yet.

According to estimates, there are over 34 million HIV-positive people in the world. The virus has already claimed about 30 million lives. Each year, approximately 3 million new infections occur, and 2 million adults and children die. In Belarus, as of November 1st, 14,001 cases of HIV infection have been registered. Over the 10 months of the current year, 1046 infected individuals have been identified. This amounts to 11 people per 100,000 population.

This year, World AIDS Day is dedicated to women. There are many reasons for this. In recent years, there has been a growing trend in the number of HIV-positive individuals among women. They are more susceptible to the virus than men. This high vulnerability is due to both medical-biological and socio-economic factors. Due to the specific characteristics of the female body, the probability of infection during a single unprotected sexual encounter is twice as high as in men. Furthermore, often due to unequal, dependent positions, women are not always equal partners in sexual relationships, which more frequently concerns sexual harassment and involvement in the sex business.

In Belarus, out of nearly 11,000 people living with HIV, 43.4 percent are women. An increase in the number of infected women of reproductive age also leads to a rise in the number of children born to HIV-positive mothers. This is one of the negative factors that can impact the demographic situation in the country. Since 1987, almost 2.2 thousand babies have been born to HIV-positive women. The diagnosis of "HIV infection" has been confirmed in 210 cases, and 10 children have died.

As of November 1, 2012, 743 cases of infection were registered in the Vitebsk region. The incidence rate was 5.8 per 100,000 people, compared to the national average of 10.4. In the current year, 71 new cases of infection have been identified. The proportion of sexual transmission was 94.4 percent. Since the beginning of observation, 112 children have been born to HIV-positive mothers, of whom 69 have been removed from dispensary records with a diagnosis of "healthy".

The data was prepared by Anastasia BUT, according to the HIV/AIDS Prevention Department of the Vitebsk Regional Center for Hygiene, Epidemiology and Public Health.
"VR"