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The face of HIV/AIDS is increasingly female. Numerous biological and social factors make women far more vulnerable to the virus than men.  More than half of all people living with HIV/AIDS today are women.  In the hardest hit countries, five or six girls between the ages of 15-24 are infected for every one boy. 
 
The link between women's status and the HIV/AIDS pandemic is finally gaining widespread recognition.  From Microsoft founder and philanthropist, Bill Gates, to Stephen Lewis, the U.N.'s Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, world leaders and public health advocates are calling for changes in the way societies treat women and girls.

"Gender inequality is driving the [HIV/AIDS] pandemic, and we will never subdue the gruesome force of AIDS until the rights of women become paramount in the struggle."
- Stephen Lewis, U.N. Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa

The goals of the Access=Life campaign include ending violence against women, promoting gender equity, and calling for universal access to prevention, treatment and support for women and girls living with or threatened by HIV/AIDS.

Browse the links below for more information on HIV/AIDS and the recent feminization of the AIDS crisis.

• The Changed Face of AIDS, San Francisco Chronicle
• The Female Face of AIDS, UNICEF
• AIDS Taking on a Female Face, WebMD
• XVI International AIDS Conference (official web site)
• Integrate Sexual Health Services, a Letter to the Editor by Carmen Barroso, Regional director, IPPF/WHR 

Browse the links below for articles and reports about the 16th International AIDS Conference in Toronto.