Approximately 70 percent of people living with HIV/AIDS in Borno State, a northeastern state in Nigeria, are women and infants, according to Borno’s governor, Ali Modu Sheriff.
"Currently in Borno state…60 percent of people living with HIV/AIDS in the state are women [and] 10 percent [are] infants," he said.
Speaking at an AIDS awareness event, Sheriff said that recent research has shown that more women are contracting the virus than men, and that women are becoming infected through both casual relationships and intercourse with their husbands.
Last week, an official at the Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria urged religious leaders in the country to rethink their views on condom use, saying that their refusal to accept them is adding to the spread of HIV.
Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
Woman of the Month is supported by exclusive advertising from Gilead.
Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I recently met a guy who is negative. I did tell him about my status and he decided to kiss me anyway (we didn't go further than that). But a day later, he called and said that he actually had a mouth ulcer that time when we kissed and he was very worried. Asked if he can get the virus from me that way. For that moment, I felt so insulted and yet I felt so bad. It was my first time having a contact with a "negative" guy."
