In the U.S., we are fortunate to have access to testing and drugs that aren’t available in many parts of Eastern Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and Central and East Asia—places the World Health Organization reported have had the steepest infection increases this decade. Protecting our sexual health is only part of what we can do when it comes to preventing the devastating effects that AIDS has on women globally. The national women’s partnership, Women Engaging Globally, summed it up best: “American women must continue to demand comprehensive and medically accurate sexuality education programs, access to the full range of contraceptives, and full funding for global HIV/AIDS programs for the well being of all women at home and abroad.”
People seem quick to react with pity for those suffering and dying thousands of miles away—something they can feel momentarily sad about and then tune out. But there is a corresponding—and baffling—sense of disaffectedness about the effect HIV and AIDS continues to have domestically, where AIDS is the number one cause of death among black women age twenty-five to fifty-four
When asked about other factors that affect the amount of risk women our age face, Pezanoski-Browne said: “I think the fear of HIV and AIDS has subsided because we are pretty informed about how to protect ourselves, but that might cause us to be not as vigilant about protecting ourselves as we should be.”
I was surprised to find that unprotected heterosexual sex is the cause of 80 percent of infections, with intravenous drug use a distant second. This provides plenty of incentive for limiting the number of sexual partners we have. Since the risk of infection increases exponentially with each, communication about status and condoms is imperative with every partner.
But some other prevention tips don’t seem to be such common knowledge. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has a helpful list, including some common sense reminders worth hearing again, such as using a male or female latex condom correctly and consistently.
There’s a wide range of actions we can start taking immediately that vary from simple (talking to our partners and friends) to more involved, but just as important (advocating for more news coverage and attention for women living with HIV/AIDS). “There is too much at stake to be indifferent,” Dr. Stephen Lewis, former United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, said as he closed the Stanford panel. In talking about young Americans’ consciousness of the disease, I couldn’t have said it better: “It’s so important to make these issues a part of your life because God knows they will make a permanent impact on it.”
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