Women's Health Project: Women and HIV/AIDS

Women's Health Project: Fact Sheets

Women and HIV/AIDS

As of December 2000, 16.4 million women worldwide were living with HIV/AIDS, representing 47% of the 34.7 million adults living with HIV/AIDS.
As of June 2000, over 120,000 women in the United States were reported as having AIDS.
HIV infection disproportionately affects African-American and Hispanic women, who account for more than 77% of AIDS cases in U.S. women.
Several studies have shown that HIV-infected women have shorter survival times than men.
Approximately 25% of pregnant women in the United States who are infected with HIV and do not receive AZT or a combination of antiretroviral therapies pass on the virus to their babies. Women who receive a combination of antiretroviral therapies during pregnancy, however, have below a 5% risk of HIV transmission to the newborn.
A woman with HIV who breast feeds her infant increases the risk of HIV transmission by about 14%.
The most effective way to reduce the risk of becoming infected with HIV is through the consistent and correct use of male latex condoms.

All information provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Health. For more information, see: HIV Infection in Women, NIAID Factsheet.

Posted Sept. 10, 2002