Launch of Caribbean Coalition on Women and AIDS
Date: 16 December 2005
A Caribbean Regional Coalition of Women and AIDS (RCWA) was launched in November 2005 in Trinidad and Tobago, by the Caribbean Regional Network of Persons Living with HIV (CRN+) and the UNAIDS Inter Country Team for Trinidad and Tobago. The regional coalition is a component of the larger Global Coalition of Women and AIDS, a UNAIDS initiative created in February 2004 to focus specifically on the impact of HIV and AIDS on women and girls.
The regional coalition was established as a response to the alarming increase in HIV infections across the Caribbean. HIV/AIDS is now considered the leading cause of death among young Caribbean men and women aged 15?45 years, with young women in the 15?24 age group particularly at risk. Recent data show that in the 15?45 age group, the number of AIDS cases among males is two times greater than that of women. However, between the ages of 15 and 24, the incidence of AIDS among females has been estimated between three to six times higher than that of males in the same age group. The rate at which HIV/AIDS infection of females has been rising is also dramatically illustrated by the fact that, while in 1985 the male to female ratio of AIDS case was 4 males to 1 female, in 2002 it was 2 to 1 (Caribbean Epidemiological Centre, CAREC, 2004).
The regional coalition will use regional and national advocacy to highlight the effects of HIV/AIDS on women and girls, focusing especially on improving prevention for women and girls, addressing social and legal inequities that compound the impact of the disease on women, and supporting the overall regional AIDS response.
For more information, contact Monique Springer, monique.springer [at] undp.org
Date: 16 December 2005
A Caribbean Regional Coalition of Women and AIDS (RCWA) was launched in November 2005 in Trinidad and Tobago, by the Caribbean Regional Network of Persons Living with HIV (CRN+) and the UNAIDS Inter Country Team for Trinidad and Tobago. The regional coalition is a component of the larger Global Coalition of Women and AIDS, a UNAIDS initiative created in February 2004 to focus specifically on the impact of HIV and AIDS on women and girls.
The regional coalition was established as a response to the alarming increase in HIV infections across the Caribbean. HIV/AIDS is now considered the leading cause of death among young Caribbean men and women aged 15?45 years, with young women in the 15?24 age group particularly at risk. Recent data show that in the 15?45 age group, the number of AIDS cases among males is two times greater than that of women. However, between the ages of 15 and 24, the incidence of AIDS among females has been estimated between three to six times higher than that of males in the same age group. The rate at which HIV/AIDS infection of females has been rising is also dramatically illustrated by the fact that, while in 1985 the male to female ratio of AIDS case was 4 males to 1 female, in 2002 it was 2 to 1 (Caribbean Epidemiological Centre, CAREC, 2004).
The regional coalition will use regional and national advocacy to highlight the effects of HIV/AIDS on women and girls, focusing especially on improving prevention for women and girls, addressing social and legal inequities that compound the impact of the disease on women, and supporting the overall regional AIDS response.
For more information, contact Monique Springer, monique.springer [at] undp.org
