12/17/2023

Assessment Suggests Girls Bear the Brunt of New HIV Infections

Prevalence among girls, young women is triple that of males in sub-Saharan Africa

Girls are more than twice as likely to contract HIV than their male counterparts, a recent UNICEF analysis suggests. The agency says nearly 98,000 adolescent girls were infected with HIV in 2022 alone.

The data, released as part of an annual snapshot on children and HIV/AIDS, suggests that gender inequality, limited access to health care and a dearth of educational programs put girls at particular risk for HIV worldwide. Although the analysis found "tremendous gains" in HIV prevention and treatment, it notes that 71 percent of new infections among adolescents ages 10 to 19 are among girls.

In sub-Saharan Africa, which has the largest proportion of children and adolescents with HIV, prevalence among girls and young women is triple that of males.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.