Girls and Women

Almost two-thirds of people under 25 living with HIV and AIDS are women. What makes women and girls even more likely to get HIV/AIDS is that their bodies are made in a way that makes it easier for the virus to infect them.

Women and girls have less information about HIV and AIDS because they are less likely to go to school.  Without an education they miss out on learning about how to protect themselves. 
 
Married women in many parts of the developing world are more likely to get HIV than unmarried women because their husbands have sex with other people and pass it on to them.

Girls are often infected at a much younger age than boys as in some countries it is acceptable for an older men to mix with or marry younger women.

Infants
Infants are at risk of getting HIV and AIDS if their mother is infected.

If a woman with HIV becomes pregnant, there is one-third chance she will pass the virus on to her baby unless she is educated about the risks and takes medicine to prevent the transferance of HIV.  This medicine is called antiretroviral drugs.  It is best if the drugs are given to the mother and the child.

Given the right treatment the chance of a mother passing HIV onto her child can be reduced to less than 2%.  Unfortunately not all women and children who are at risk get the opportunity to receive treatment.

Here is the story of Amivi: a mother in Togo living with HIV who gave birth to Yabo who was not infected with the virus
Lome, Togo, July 2009
Hadrien Bonnaud, UNICEF International

 Amivi, 27, who is living with HIV, has gone to a health centre every day for the past four years to receive free anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment. Recently, she was at the centre not only for her own medical care but to follow up on the HIV status of her 18 month old daughter Yabo. During her pregnancy, Amivi received ARV treatment for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV at a UNICEF supported centre at Lome's Be Hospital. But she could not be sure of her daughter's status until now.

"The doctor told me that at the beginning of a baby's life, it is the mother's blood which is flowing in the baby's veins. Then, the child gradually produces its own blood and antibodies," said Amivi. "When Yabo was one, she tested positive. Today, my daughter did the second test, the 18-month one, and she is negative. What a relief!"

When Amivi discovered that she was pregnant for the first time, she did not immediately go to a doctor, as she could not afford to. She gave birth to a son who died shortly after birth. At this point, she decided to accept that she was living with HIV.

When Amivi became pregnant the second time, she overcame her natural shyness and the social stigma attached to HIV, speaking out about the virus and offering other women advice on how to prevent it.

"As a mother, it is my duty to accept my status," she said. "If no one had informed me that pre-natal consultations for HIV-positive people were free at Be Hospital, my daughter might already be dead."

Amivi is engaged and pregnant again. She is hopeful that the PMTCT treatment that saved Yabo's life will protect her new baby as well. Indeed, thanks to the services provided at Be Hospital's PMTCT centre, the new baby has a 95% chance of not being infected with HIV.

Amivi aims to continue telling her story as a lesson for her peers.
"I don't want my daughter to suffer as I have," she declared. "My story is that of every woman in Africa."
                                                        
Men
Although men are less likely to get the disease biologically, they still get HIV and AIDS and can pass it on.  They contract the disease in the usual ways through sex, blood transfusions, needle use and from their mother.  Men who have not attended school can be harder to target with information about HIV and AIDS as they have less contact with health centres, and in some cases are less willing to accept they could catch the disease.  This means they can often unknowingly continue to spread the disease.

The attitude surrounding men as being 'strong' makes admitting having the virus difficult.  As men often provide for their families, and an acknowledgement of the disease may mean losing a job, this becomes an incentive for refusing to be tested.

In some countries it is acceptable for men to have several partners or buy sex which puts them at risk of getting HIV/AIDS.

Like women, men can be left as sole parents of their children if their partner dies of  HIV/AIDS.