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Lifestyle Reporter
THE odds are stacked against women in the fight against HIV in sub-Saharan Africa as six out of every 10 people living with HIV are women. Biology as well as social, cultural and economic factors conspire to make women much more vulnerable to the virus than men.

Worldwide, a quarter of all new HIV infections are of women aged between 15 and 24 and the sad part is the vast majority of these young women live in sub-Saharan Africa.

When it comes to options for HIV prevention, women particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa have for a long time been ‘‘denied’’ a level playing field due to lack of options to protect themselves.

Physiologically, women are up to four times more vulnerable to HIV infection than men.

The same reality is echoed in the Zimbabwe Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (Zimphia) report by the Ministry of Health and Child Care and its partners.

Annual incidence of HIV among adults (15-64 years) is 0, 45 percent to which 0,59 percent was recorded among females and 0,31 percent among males.

HIV prevalence among adults (15-64 years) is 14,6 percent. Females again recorded a high percentage of 16,7 as compared to 12,4 percent among males.

During the commemorations of the International Women’s Day held in Hatcliffe last week, Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Zimbabwe country programs manager, Dr Ernest Chikwati resonated that gender inequality is one of the drivers of new HIV infections among women.

“Economic factors top the list as the majority of women depend on men for various benefits for their survival and this makes them vulnerable as it weakens their position to safer sexual practices,” said Dr Chikwati.

“For women to be able to negotiate for safe sex, they need to be economically and socially empowered,”

“According to UNAIDS, there are 700 000 women living with HIV in Zimbabwe and 65 percent of them are on anti-retroviral therapy.”

However the only positive indicator revealed by Zimphia is that prevalence of viral load suppression is higher in women with a 64, 5 percent against 54, 3 percent among males.

While men continue to account for new HIV infections in Zimbabwe each year, women cannot be forgotten when it comes to addressing the epidemic.

Given the often heterosexual dimension of the infection, the HIV/Aids epidemic is particularly affected by gender systems in sub-Saharan Africa promote the spread of HIV through a variety of routes that include masculine identities that support dominance, sexual freedom and sexual satisfaction.

Health and Child Care ministry’s director of AIDS and TB unit, Dr Owen Mugurungi said HIV still has a woman’s face and he explains the several reasons why.

“Infected semen remains in the cervix for some time, there is a large surface area in the vagina and cervix exposed to the virus, and the vagina is more susceptible to small tears during sex,” he said.

“Young women’s cervixes are even more vulnerable, particularly when they first start having sex. But perhaps the most compelling risk factor is women’s lack of power to ensure they have safe sex.

“There’s large body of evidence pointing to the fact that many women are simply unable to abstain from sex, guarantee that their partners will be faithful or insist on the use of condoms.”

National Aids Council statistics state that women account for more than 60 percent of the 1, 4 million people living with HIV/Aids in Zimbabwe.

In sub-Saharan Africa approximately 60 percent of new infections in the 15-24 year age group occur among girls and young women, where unprotected heterosexual sex is the primary driver of the epidemic.

In Zimbabwe, HIV-positive girls and women in this age group outnumber males three to one.

It has taken some time for policy makers to realise that women need not only knowledge about how to protect themselves from HIV. In many cases, they also need the power to insist that men use condoms.

Condom use is not only a rarely used method but also one that is abandoned within the first few weeks into a relationship.

It appears that there is a common belief, particularly among men, that the use of condoms does not belong in a ‘faithful’ relationship or marriage under any circumstances whatsoever.

Many women do not have the social and economic power necessary to insist on condom use, fidelity and or to abandon partnerships that put them at risk.

Condom use has been accepted to be the preserve for commercial sex workers and extra-marital affairs or casual sex.

Harare Metropolitan Province deputy director in the Minister of State’s office for the province, Mr Trust Mudzingwa, speaking at the same event said the economy is poorer without the participation of women.

“Investing in women’s economic empowerment sets a direct path towards gender equality, poverty eradication and inclusive economic growth,” she said.

“However, there remains a yawning gap between Zimbabwean men and women in terms of access to and control over resources, opportunities and decision-making.

“I, firmly believe that eradication of poverty and economic empowerment of women are the cornerstones for achieving gender equality.”

At a High Level Meeting of the UN General Assembly on AIDS in June 2011, member states pledged to ensure that women can exercise their right to have control over, and decide freely and responsibly on matters related to their sexuality in order to increase their ability to protect themselves from HIV infection, free of coercion, discrimination and violence.

This year’s International Women’s Day was held under the theme; ‘Transforming Women’s Lives through Economic Empowerment.’

At the same event which AHF partnered with the Ministry of Women and Youth Affairs there was HIV counselling and testing, family planning and legal services offered as well as free distribution of sanitary wear.

Despite advances in preventing HIV, women-young women, especially-still face disproportionate risk, and a number of current prevention options including oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), may not be accessible to or practical for many women.

An Aids vaccine appears to be a long shot at the moment and in the meantime, scientists are keenly looking at other options that could prevent HIV.

HIV poses as a huge threat around the world with 35 million people living with the disease while 1, 5 million people die from it every year.

However, this is in spite of new infections falling by 33 percent since 2001 due to the availability of anti-retroviral drugs.