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Background: Malaria in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients is an ever-increasing global burden for human health. The present meta-analysis summarizes published literature on the prevalence of malaria infection in HIV-positive children, pregnant women and adults. Methods: This study followed the PRISMA guideline. The PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar, Scopus and Cochrane databases were searched for relevant entries published between 1 January 1983 and 1 March 2020. All peer-reviewed original papers evaluating the prevalence of malaria among HIV-positive patients were included. Incoherence and heterogeneity between studies were quantified by the I2 index and Cochran's Q test. Publication and population biases were assessed with funnel plots, and Egger's regression asymmetry test. Results: A total of 106 studies were included in this systematic review. The average prevalence of malaria among HIV-positive children, HIV-positive pregnant women and HIV-positive adults was 39.4% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 26.6–52.9), 32.3% (95% CI = 26.3–38.6) and 27.3% (95% CI = 20.1–35.1), respectively. In adult patients with HIV, CD4+ (cluster of differentiation 4) < 200 cells/µl and age < 40 years were associated with a significant increase in the odds of malaria infection (odds ratio [OR] = 1.5, 95% CI = 1.2–1.7 and OR = 1.1, 95% CI = 1–1.3, respectively). Antiretroviral therapy (ART) and being male were associated with a significant decrease in the chance of malaria infection in HIV-positive adults (OR = 0.8, 95% CI = 0.7–0.9 and OR = 0.2, 95% CI = 0.2–0.3, respectively). In pregnant women with HIV, CD4+ count < 200 cells/µl was related to a higher risk for malaria infection (OR = 1.5, 95% CI = 1.1–1.9). Conclusions: This systematic review demonstrates that malaria infection is concerningly common among HIV-positive children, pregnant women and adults. Among HIV-positive adults, ART medication and being male were associated with a substantial decrease in infection with malaria. For pregnant women, CD4+ count of < 200 cells/µl was a considerable risk factor for malaria infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In her 2016 article Sherry Ortner discusses what she calls the rise of 'dark anthropology': that is, ethnographic work that analyses situations of domination, dispossession, and violence. She, like Joel Robbins (), posits as a counterpoint the emergence of 'anthropologies of the good,' which emphasise care and ethics. In this paper I put these two anthropological projects into generative tension through an analysis of HIV‐positive women's lives in Papua New Guinea. In the first part of the paper I demonstrate the ways in which resource extraction has created vulnerabilities to HIV—in part through the coerced marriages of women to powerful landowners. In the second, I discuss ways in which the antiretroviral era has made possible unexpected forms of kindness towards HIV‐positive women. I end the paper with a discussion of what HIV‐positive women mean when they claim that they are happier now than in their pre‐diagnosis lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses two case studies of women diagnosed with HIV and AIDS. Page (1984) observed that, in modern culture, stigma has taken the connotation of being "associated almost exclusively with 'inferior' forms of physical appearance, conduct or ethnicity" (p. 2), and further that, "stigma has tended to be associated with those inferior attributes that are commonly regarded as major norm infractions" (p. 4). In this sense HIV and AIDS are viewed as outside of the societal norm as the label must be shared to gain both support and services from the medical industry and family members. This paper discusses the lived experiences of marginalization and stigma associated with living with HIV and AIDS within the critical lens of being a woman. Participants shared their perspectives during an open ended interview process. Common emergent themes included that of discrimination, stigma within society and the familial unit, and stigma consciousness. As an outcome, participants suggest a social and educational response to those living with HIV and AIDS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little research has been conducted on women living with HIV with a focus on caregiving. This paper explores data that emerged in a study examining caregiving networks among people living with HIV in the Prairies in Canada. Photovoice provided a methodology for data collection. The narratives presented suggest that while these women's lives are riddled with risk and violence, there are clear features to which they turn to in order to gain support and strength. Recommendations for future social support conclude the paper. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health and quality of life benefits accrued from the availability of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) are commendable, but the social milieu continues to pose challenges for women’s decision making around having children. This paper qualitatively explored women’s questions and concerns around living with HIV, being on HAART and pregnancy. Women of reproductive age were recruited from Eastern Cape and Gauteng Provinces, South Africa. Information on women’s fertility desires and pregnancy planning was collected through participatory workshop, focus groups, and one-on-one interviews. Three main themes emerged. Women living with HIV require information on the impact of HIV on pregnancy outcomes and vice versa. Women who are young, lost a child, not consistently using contraception or who have not been seriously ill have positive reproductive aspirations. Ambivalent attitudes of health care workers towards pregnancy impacts women’s fertility aspirations. Unbiased pre-conceptual communication should form part of HIV treatment and care services, despite expressed pregnancy intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1998, the US Supreme Court first held that asymptomatic HIV infection constituted a disability when it ruled on the case of Bragdon v. Abbott. The use of yet another label (disabled) to identify women living with HIV has been rarely (if ever) questioned. While we do value the use of this label as an anti-discriminatory strategy, we believe that there is a need to examine how language and more specifically, the use of words such as disability, limitation, and impairment may create new forms of identities for women living with HIV. Using this legal case as a starting point, the goal of this paper is to critically examine the 'fabrication' of asymptomatic HIV infection as a disability. Grounded in a feminist poststructuralist perspective, this paper exposes the relationship between language, social institutions, subjectivity, and power in the construction of difference. By doing so, it addresses the identification of women living with HIV/AIDS as disabled and the self-differentiation process that they must go through in order to live as normally as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mother-to-child transmission is a continuing source of new HIV infections in South Africa. The paper posits that insight into the socio-cultural, behavioural, environmental and economic factors that sustain the HIV epidemic is as important as understanding the biological causes of the disease when planning and implementing interventions to prevent and reduce perinatal transmission. Furthermore, understanding the pregnancy intentions of individuals in areas of endemic HIV/AIDS is vital for providing the best care for individuals who are HIV-positive. This paper suggests a model for types of support and interventions that are relative to the intention of HIV-positive women or couples to become pregnant. Included among these are interventions for prevention of unwanted pregnancy, prevention of transmission of HIV, protection of the infant, and protection of the mother. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Culture, Health & Sexuality is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The number of male caretakers (biological fathers and other men) of HIV-infected and affected children is substantial and may increase in the US and elsewhere as more women become infected. Little information exists about the needs these men have for support services to help them better perform their parenting roles as male caretakers (MCs). This paper discusses the service needs of MCs at Ryan While CARE Act Title IV programs, the challenges providers at these programs face in serving MCs, and the strategies they have found effective in working with MCs. Providers report that MCs have specific service needs including the need for emotional support. Title IV programs meet these needs in a limited way because they are organized primarily around the needs of female rather than male caretakers. We discuss how Title IV programs can tailor existing service delivery and implement organizational change to facilitate MCs' service access and utilization. Further research directly with MCs is necessary to learn more about their service needs and the harriers MCs face in accessing services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AIDS is a devastating and deadly disease that affects people worldwide and, like all infections, it comes without warning. Specifically, childbearing women with AIDS face constant psychological difficulties during their gestation period, even though the pregnancy itself may be normal and healthy. These women have to deal with the uncertainties and the stress that usually accompany a pregnancy, and they have to live with the reality of having a life-threatening disease; in addition to that, they also have to deal with discriminating and stigmatizing behaviors from their environment. It is well known that a balanced mental state is a major determining factor to having a normal pregnancy and constitutes the starting point for having a good quality of life. Even though the progress in both technology and medicine is rapid, infected pregnant women seem to be missing this basic requirement. Communities seem unprepared and uneducated to smoothly integrate these people in their societies, letting the ignorance marginalize and isolate these patients. For all the aforementioned reasons, it is imperative that society and medical professionals respond and provide all the necessary support and advice to HIV-positive child bearers, in an attempt to allay their fears and relieve their distress. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the difficulties patients with HIV infection have to deal with, in order to survive and merge into society, identify the main reasons for the low public awareness, discuss the current situation, and provide potential solutions to reducing the stigma among HIV patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The population of women aged 50 years and older living with HIV is increasing. Older women face unique challenges in the prevention and management of HIV; however, they are often under engaged in HIV/AIDS research. One such challenge is gender-based stigma, which can be manifested through harmful gendered stereotypes, discrimination, prejudice, and sexism that could potentially hinder HIV care engagement among this population. We propose a scoping review to identify and synthesize evidence pertaining to how experiences of gender-based stigma impacts HIV prevention and care among older women. Materials and methods: We will use the framework by Arksey and O'Malley and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR) to conduct this scoping review. We will search MEDLINE/PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, CINAHL and Scopus for empirical literature published between January 1981 and the date of search commencement. Supplementary screening will be conducted using backwards citation chaining of the final list of included full-text articles. Two reviewers will independently screen all titles and abstracts for articles that meet the predetermined inclusion criteria. Two reviewers will also screen full-text articles and chart data using a standardized data collection form. Results: We will synthesize the findings through tables, charts, and narrative summaries. We will also identify gaps in the current literature and provide recommendations for future research. Findings will be shared at conferences and submitted to a peer-reviewed publication. Discussion: To our knowledge, this will be the first scoping review to examine gender-based stigma in relation to HIV prevention and care among older women. We anticipate that our results will be of interest to older women living with HIV, healthcare providers, policy makers, and community activists working to improve quality of life and care experiences for older women living with HIV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I examine activist group ACT UP's campaign to change the US Centers for Disease Control surveillance case definition of HIV and AIDS. This campaign's effects included a profound shift in how AIDS is understood, and thus in some real way in what it is. I argue that classification should be understood as a political formation with material effects, attending to the words of activists, most of them women, who contested the way AIDS was defined in a moment when no one else thought that definition needed to be changed. I argue that philosopher Sue Campbell's work on the importance of understanding memory and feeling as relational helps understand the histories of death and loss, resistance and fierce joy, crystallized in activist responses to HIV and AIDS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper assesses the associations between intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and sexual risks among HIV-positive female drinkers in St Petersburg, Russia. Survey and STI data were analysed from 285 women in HERMITAGE, a secondary prevention study of HIV-positive heavy drinkers. Logistic and Poisson regression analyses assessed associations of IPV with STI and risky sex. Most women (78%) experienced IPV and 19% were STI positive; 15% sold sex. IPV was not significantly associated with STI, but was with selling sex (adjusted odds ratio = 3.56, 95% confidence interval = 1.02–12.43). In conclusion, IPV is common and associated with sex trade involvement among Russian HIV-positive female drinkers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, community attitudes toward women living with HIV and AIDS at the present time from the perspectives of women in Thailand are examined. We also look at strategies women use in order to deal with any stigma and discrimination that they may feel or experience in the community. The paper is based on our larger study of the experiences of women living with HIV and AIDS and their participation in clinical trials. In late 2007 and early 2008 we carried out a number of in-depth interviews with women living with HIV and AIDS in central Thailand. We find that women living with HIV and AIDS still deal with stigma and discrimination in their everyday life. However, from the women''s narratives, we also find more positive attitudes from local communities. Some women deal with stigma and discrimination by joining and participating in HIV and AIDS support groups that have emerged in response to the AIDS epidemic in Thailand. We argue that women are not passive victims, but that they act in their own agencies to counteract any negativity they might encounter. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of Revista Gerencia y Políticas de Salud is the property of Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Politica y Sociedad is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: The objective of this work is to estimate human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevalence in the adult populations of New York City, and of New York State (NYS) excluding New York City. Evidence is presented that not all HIV-infected persons live long enough to satisfy an acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) diagnosis. The term preAIDS mortality refers to the mortality of HIV-infected persons, due to any cause, before they can be diagnosed with AIDS. The effect of preAIDS mortality on the estimate of HIV incidence, using back calculation of AIDS Surveillance Data, is to produce low-biased estimates of HIV incidence and prevalence. Estimates of HIV prevalence in women of childbearing age were obtained from the Newborn Seroprevalence Survey [Lessner L. The estimation of HIV prevalence for women of childbearing age in New York City, presently under review]. HIV-positive women in this population typically do not have an opportunistic infection. Thus estimates of HIV prevalence in this population occurred earlier in the spectrum of HIV disease then when they finally satisfied the definition of AIDS that depends on incidence of an opportunistic disease. These earlier estimates of HIV prevalence in women were found to be substantially larger then those obtained from back calculation using female AIDS Surveillance Data. This comparison was used to obtain a quantitative measure R of the effect of preAIDS mortality on HIV prevalence: where 1/R equals the proportion of HIV-infected intravenous drug users that become AIDS cases The preAIDS mortality adjustment factor R was used in the estimation of HIV prevalence and incidence for NYS. We believe that the use of the adjustment factor resulted in more accurate estimates. Using this factor, our estimated HIV incidence for New York City in 1991 was nearly 26% larger than without the adjustment while projected HIV prevalence for 1996 was nearly 27% larger. The paper estimates HIV prevalence. The AIDS Surveillance operation uses AIDS cases to back calculate HIV incidence and prevalence. Since many HIV-infected intravenous drug using (IDU) population die before they become an AIDS case, the estimates from the back calculation are low biased. Low biased because there were many HIV-infected people who died before they ever satisfied the AIDS protocol. The totals presented here adjust for preAIDS mortality and are necessarily larger than what was recorded by the NYS Dept. of Health. After the change in the definition of AIDS to simply HIV prevalence and the change to electronic reporting, the totals were mostly HIV cases reported in the given year and not AIDS. Thus there is no comparison. This paper represents the last best look at the natural history of AIDS in NYS. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

With access to prevention of parent-to-child transmission (PPTCT) and antiretroviral therapy (ARV), people living with HIV/AIDS are better able to consider childbearing and parenthood. However, there is limited understanding of the reproductive healthcare needs and the impact of infection on the fertility desires of women living with HIV/AIDS. Research on the relationship between fertility and HIV/AIDS has been largely clinical, focusing on the ability of women living with HIV/AIDS (WLHA) to conceive or their pregnancy outcomes. This paper describes the findings of a qualitative study undertaken in Namakkal district, Tamil Nadu, India that aimed to explore fertility desires, intentions and fertility decision-making in WLHA and the barriers they face in fulfilling these desires. In-depth interviews were held with selected 43 currently married WLHA aged 18-35 years and 10 key informants. The women were classified according to whether or not they had living children and, within that, whether they had experienced abortion, wanted more or any children or were pregnant. The main factors distinguishing women who wanted to have a child and those who did not were their levels of anxiety about the future and available family support. Women who indicated that they did not have family support and were stigmatised by the family were reluctant to opt for a pregnancy as they were not sure of the future, including child care in event of parental death. In contrast, those women who decided to have a child did so based on family support, especially when family members offered to take care of the child in the future in the event of parental death. Awareness and access to PPTCT and ARV was another key factor guiding the final decision on child bearing. Findings highlight the need for further research on issues faced by WLHA in fulfilling their fertility desires and intentions and for programmes that both enable WLHA to exercise informed choice in meeting their fertility desires and sensitise healthcare providers about these needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale surveys have reported that about 55% of orphans worldwide are adolescents. In Kenya, the majority of HIV-infected adolescents are females. The current study used the anthropological methods of in-depth case studies to analyse how migratory life situations of individual female adolescent orphans in the Luo community of Western Kenya may increase their exposure to HIV. The study shows that the ability of the female adolescent orphans to adopt risk-preventive behaviour in relation to HIV is determined by a range of factors beyond their control of individual sexual behaviour. Although analysis of a single case study limits generalisation of the findings, the results provide insights into the reason for sex differentials in HIV infection rates among adolescents as reported in some large-scale surveys. The paper recommends that HIV prevention strategies for adolescents should examine the specific life situations of female orphans by focusing on the impacts of HIV and AIDS and poverty on the protective role of the family. It also recommends that keeping female adolescent orphans in school or in vocational training can be an effective HIV prevention strategy for them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an account of how young, HIV-positive women manage their lives on limited budgets in four United States cities: New York City, New Orleans, Miami, and Chicago. The study findings elucidate city-to-city variability in housing assistance, and how this manifests in locality specific differences in the experience of HIV. Our research suggests that the receipt of housing assistance has ramifications for women’s engagement in care, and for their health. Women not receiving aid often move frequently in and out of homelessness, or “double up” with others in complex household arrangements to share costs. Women with long-term housing assistance, while still struggling financially, possess a stable base from which to approach daily life and HIV care. This account suggests a need for empirical research assessing the impact of local variations in housing assistance on specific health outcomes for those with HIV. It also highlights the importance of understanding local contexts when designing housing interventions at both the individual and structural levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article lists publications related to HIV infections. The publications include "Women and HIV/AIDS: Confronting the Crisis," "Triple Jeopardy: Women and AIDS," "Facing the Future Together: Report of the Secretary-General's Task Force on Women, Girls," " HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa" and "Intimate Partner Violence and HIV/AIDS," "Sexual Violence in Conflict Settings and the Risk of HIV," "Women's Human Rights Related to Health-Care Services in the Context of HIV/AIDS" and "HIV/AIDS, Gender Inequality and the Agricultural Sector."

Copyright of Culture, Health & Sexuality is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

International and national campaigns to prevent HIV/AIDS and efforts to promote reproductive health remain separate in terms of conceptualisation and implementation. Local negotiations around reproductive health issues similarly seem to lack explicit attention to HIV/AIDS. This paper argues that even in reproductive health clinics a gap exists between the extent of knowledge of HIV/AIDS and AIDS talk. There also appears to be a mismatch between collective knowledge of the behavioural and biomedical context of HIV/AIDS and the socio-economic context of AIDS as a lived experience. Using an ethnographic account, I explore how one woman's lived experience and her knowledge of AIDS can teach us to take HIV/AIDS into account when theorising, promoting or providing services for improving African women's reproductive health. The background for this ethnography comes from data collected during 25 months of fieldwork at 10 maternal and child health/family planning (MCH/FP) clinic sites in the Morogoro, Ruvuma and Kilimanjaro regions of Tanzania. Rehema's story shows that AIDS, like other diseases, is significantly linked to host-susceptibility and economic vulnerability. Separate and competing vertical programmes on AIDS and MCH/FP, as commonly encountered throughout Africa, cannot meet the needs of women in countries like Tanzania. Yet, we still hear most often of abstinence, anti-retrovirals and condom use as the primary focus of HIV/AIDS prevention and intervention in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, dramatically increasing numbers of mainland Chinese women have entered Hong Kong to engage in sexual labour. Public discourses on the threat of HIV/AIDS increasingly locate these women's bodies as sites of danger, colluding with pre-existing imaginations of mainland rural women as ignorant, desperate and deceptive in representing these women's penetration of Hong Kong's border as a primary means of infection of the Hong Kong body. Drawing on state, media and popular representations, and the narratives of female sex workers themselves, this paper examines the interwoven bio-medical, gendered, sexual and cross-border relationships that intersect in the experiences of mainland Chinese sex workers in Hong Kong. I argue that while images of disease and danger have been used to regulate these women's bodies, mainland female sex workers challenge these images by drawing on other popular stereotypes of mainland women as pure, feminine and traditional. Although images of the related but still‘other’ figure of the mainland Chinese woman are powerful mechanisms for the regulation of these women's bodies, mainland female sex workers skilfully use inherent tensions in those images in resisting that control and in struggling to achieve their own personal and economic goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from research in Zambia, and drawing on the broader literature on HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, and gender, this paper examines the difficulties faced by women who wish - or are pressured - to have children, but at the same time want to protect themselves and their children against HIV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: With increased availability of antiretroviral therapy and improved survival for people living with HIV, more HIV-positive women are leading full reproductive lives. However, HIV-positive women have special contraceptive needs/concerns. This paper examines the individual and community-level HIV/AIDS factors associated with contraceptive use and compares predictors of contraceptive uptake between HIV-positive and HIV-negative women in Kenya.Study Design: The study is based on secondary analysis of cross-sectional data of a sample of 9132 sexually active women of reproductive age from the Kenya Demographic and Health Surveys collected in 2003 and 2008. Multilevel logistic regression models are used to examine individual and contextual community-level factors associated with current contraceptive use.Results: The study provides evidence of lower contraceptive uptake among women living in high HIV-prevalence communities. It further reveals striking differences in factors associated with contraceptive uptake between HIV-positive and HIV-negative women. Education and the desire to stop childbearing are strongly associated with contraceptive uptake among uninfected women, but both factors are not significant among HIV-positive women for whom wealth is the most important factor. While HIV-negative women in the richest wealth quintile are about twice as likely to use contraceptives as their counterparts of similar characteristics in the poorest quintile, this gap is about sevenfold among HIV-positive women.Conclusion: These findings suggest that having the desire and relevant knowledge to use contraceptives does not necessarily translate into expected contraceptive behavior for HIV-positive women in Kenya and that poor HIV-positive women may be particularly in need of increased access to contraceptive services.Implications: • Study provides evidence of lower contraceptive uptake among women living in high HIV-prevalence communities in Kenya. • Results reveal striking differences in factors associated with contraceptive use between HIV-positive and HIV-negative women. • Poverty may be an impediment to contraceptive uptake among HIV-positive women in Kenya. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1980s, queer women have held a precarious position in HIV/AIDS discourse, often invisible or positioned in caring roles for others living with HIV. The voices of queer women who are themselves HIV-positive have been largely unrepresented. In this article, we examine artworks by Kia LaBeija and Jessica Whitbread, contemporary artists who explicitly draw on their experiences as queer HIV-positive women. We trace the appearance of material objects of home in their artworks, and how pleasure, love, and care are imbricated in and through domestic objects, spaces, and practices. Reading Whitbread's and LaBeija's work together draws attention to the potent and political role of the domestic objects, textures, and fabrics in the telling and reframing of stories about HIV-positive queer women's lives. We argue that Whitbread's and LaBeija's art offers new visual resources that help frame and orient the experiences of queer HIV-positive women beyond the biomedical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1989, one in four (25%) infants born to women living with HIV were infected; by the age of 2 years, there was 25% mortality among them due to HIV. These and other pieces of data prompted the development of interventions to offset vertical transmission, including the landmark Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trial Group Study (PACTG 076) in 1994. This study reported a 67.5% reduction in perinatal HIV transmission with prophylactic antenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal zidovudine. Numerous studies since then have provided compelling evidence to further optimize interventions, such that annual transmission rates of 0% are now reported by many health departments in the US and elimination has been validated in several countries around the world. Despite this success, the elimination of HIV's vertical transmission on the global scale remains a work in progress, limited by socioeconomic factors such as the prohibitive cost of antiretrovirals. Here, we review some of the key trials underpinning the development of guidelines in the US as well as globally, and discuss the evidence through a historic lens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) that ultimately determines the development of AIDS evolved in time in a pandemic disease. Our study evaluated first trimester markers for aneuploidy, serum progesterone levels in first and second trimester in HIV positive pregnant women under HAART therapy. Material and methods: It was a prospective study that took place between January 2017- December 2019 in "Cuza-Vodă" Hospital from Romania. We analysed first trimester PAPP-A, βHCG, first and second trimester progesterone of 25 HIV positive pregnant women under HAART therapy and compared them with seronegative pregnant women. Results: Both βHCG and first and second trimester progesterone were lower in HIV positive women under HAART therapy. These alterations of first trimester markers for aneuploidy might lead to an over estimation of the risk for Down syndrome. Conclusions: Obstetricians need to know the alterations of first trimester markers for aneuploidy so they can correctly advise these women accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts related to AIDS/HIV including a controlled trial for HIV risk reduction, health policy interventions in India, and the fertility intentions of HIV positive women.

Abstract: As the AIDS epidemic developed in the United States, emphasis turned from estimates of HIV incidence in male populations to estimates of HIV prevalence in the larger population, and to estimates of prevalence in sentinel populations. The concern was that heterosexual contact with male intravenous drug users was responsible for increased HIV prevalence among young women. Increases in HIV infection in women of child bearing age would result in increases in the number of HIV infected children. Thus, women of child bearing age would become an especially important sentinel population. The Newborn Seroprevalence Project was part of a national population-based survey to assess HIV prevalence among women of child bearing age. Blood from every newborn was obtained and tested for the HIV antibody. The observed proportion of seropositive births obtained during a given year in a given age/race/region stratum was used to estimate HIV prevalence of all women in that stratum. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the stratum and population-specific HIV prevalence and prevalence proportions for New York City women of child bearing age in 1991, as well as to estimate the bias that results from using the sample proportion in these efforts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The mid-1990s was an important time period for women, particularly African American women, in the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In 1995, for the first time, the proportion of black Americans reported with AIDS was the same as white Americans. The following year, in 1996, the proportion of black Americans reported with AIDS exceeded white Americans. Additionally, in 1996, women accounted for 20 percent of the total adult AIDS cases, the highest proportion reported in any year to date. These new highs in reported AIDS cases together created a moment of intensification in discourses about African American women and AIDS. This paper examines Pearl Cleage's What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day, arguing that the politics of respectability continue to shape African American discourses of race, gender, sexuality, and, in this example, the ways they intersect with discourses of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. I know as well as anybody that being diagnosed HIV-positive changes everything about your life. but it's still your life, the only one you know for sure you got, so you better figure out how to live it as best you can, which is exactly what I intended to do. I wanted to move someplace where I didn't have to apologize for not disappearing because my presence made people nervous, I wanted a more enlightened pool of folks from which to draw potential lovers. I wanted to be someplace where I could be my black, female, sexual, HIV-positive self. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the portrayal of HIV/AIDS in 14 mass print newspapers directed towards the Canadian Aboriginal population and published between 1996 and 2000. Based on qualitative content analysis the research examines both manifest and latent meanings. Manifest results of this study indicate that women and youth are under represented as persons with HIV/AIDS. The latent results note the frequent references to Aboriginal culture, and the political and economic position of Aboriginal Canadians when discussing the disease, the person with the disease, the fear of the disease and the reaction of the community to the person with the disease. Unlike mainstream media where the medical frame is dominant, HIV/AIDS are here contextualized by culture, identity, spirituality and political-economic issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite important advances in expanding access to antiretroviral therapy in the countries most heavily affected by HIV/AIDS, there has been little consideration of the connections between HIV prevention, care and treatment programmes and reproductive health services. In this paper, we explore the integration of reproductive health services into HIV care and treatment programmes. We review the design and progress of the MTCT-Plus Initiative, which provides HIV care and treatment services to HIV positive women as well as their HIV positive children and partners. By emphasising the long-term follow-up of families and the provision of comprehensive care across the spectrum of HIV disease, MTCT-Plus highlights the potential synergies in linking reproductive health services to HIV care and treatment programmes. While HIV care and treatment programmes in resource-limited settings may not be able to integrate all reproductive health services into a single service delivery model, there is a clear need to include basic reproductive health services, such as access to appropriate contraception and counselling and management of unplanned pregnancies. The integration of these services would be facilitated by greater insight into the reproductive choices of HIV positive women and men, and into how health care providers influence access to reproductive health services of people with HIV and AIDS. Malgré une amélioration de l'accès à la thérapie antirétrovirale dans les pays les plus touchés par le VIH/SIDA, les liens entre les programmes de prévention, soins et traitement du VIH et les services de santé génésique n'ont guère été étudiés. Dans cet article, nous examinons l'intégration des services de santé génésique dans les programmes de soins et traitement du VIH. Nous analysons la conception et les progrès de l'Initiative PTME-Plus, qui assure des services de soins et traitement aux femmes séropositives ainsi qu'à leurs enfants et partenaires infectés. En privilégiant le suivi familial à long terme et les soins complets à tous les stades de l'infection, PTME-Plus souligne les synergies déclenchées en liant les services de santé génésique avec les programmes de soins et traitement du VIH. Si dans les environnements à ressources limitées, ces programmes ne peuvent pas toujours intégrer tous les services de santé génésique en un modèle unique de services, il faut néanmoins y inclure des services de santé génésique de base, comme l'accès à une contraception adaptée et des consultations, et la gestion des grossesses non désirées. L'intégration de ces services serait facilitée par une meilleure connaissance des choix génésiques offerts aux femmes et aux hommes séropositifs, et de l'influence des prestataires de soins de santé sur l'accès des séropositifs aux services de santé génésique. Pese a los importantes avances en la ampliación del acceso a la terapia antirretroviral en los países más afectados por el VIH/SIDA, no se ha pensado mucho en las conexiones entre los programas de prevención, atención y tratamiento del VIH, y los servicios de salud reproductiva. En este artículo, exploramos la integración de estos ãltimos a los programas de atención y tratamiento del VIH. Revisamos el diseño y los avances de la Iniciativa MTCT-Plus, que proporciona servicios de atención y tratamiento del VIH a las mujeres VIH-positivas, sus hijos y sus parejas VIH-positivos. Al dar énfasis al seguimiento de las familias a largo plazo y a la provisión de atención integral en todo el espectro de la enfermedad del VIH, la MTCT-Plus destaca las posibles sinergias en vincular los servicios de salud reproductiva a los programas de atención y tratamiento del VIH. Aunque es posible que, en ámbitos con pocos recursos, estos programas no logren integrar todos los servicios de salud reproductiva a un solo modelo de prestación de servicios, indudablemente es necesario incluir los servicios esenciales de salud reproductiva, como el acceso a anticonceptivos y consejería apropiada y el manejo de embarazos no planeados. La integración de estos servicios se facilitaría al tener más conocimiento sobre las decisiones reproductivas de las mujeres y los hombres VIH-positivos, y sobre cómo los profesionales de la salud influyen en el acceso de las personas con VIH/SIDA a los servicios de salud reproductiva. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2003, India had over 5.1 million infected individuals living with HIV/AIDS. The percentage of all HW cases attributed to perinatal transmission has been increasing steadily from 0.33% of total cases in 1999 to 2.80% in 2004. Recent statistics indicate that over 180,000 infants have been infected through this route, Despite recent advances in reducing in utero and interbartum transmission with the use of antiretrovirals, there is a critical need to make infant feeding safer. Current UNAIDS/WHO/UNICEF recommendations stress avoidance of all breastfeeding if replacement feeding fulfills the key requirements of being affordable, feasible, acceptable, sustainable, and safe, In this paper, we examine how the UNAIDS/WHO/UNICEF recommendations have been actualized within the context of an urban government hospital in India. The documented patterns of infant feeding by HIV-positive mothers in Pune, India, from 2000 to 2004, highlight the complexities of making an informed and healthy choice under suboptimal conditions. The data indicate that interpersonal variations in the key requirements greatly influence the optimal practice to minimize mortality risks. Moreover, local information on health outcomes is crucial to tailoring policy recommendations to save lives. We propose the development of a decision-making algorithm that includes factors affecting mother-to-infant transmission, including site-specific data on health risks to the mother and the child. Such an algorithm would allow identification of the healthiest feeding choice and would minimize the pitfalls of promoting homogeneous practices lacking site-specific evidence-based evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to report on the construction of the HIV Medication Self- Reported Nonadherence Reasons (SNAR) index and its psychological correlates. Data were derived from a sample of 193 Swedish HIV-seropositive women and men receiving antiretroviral medications. Participants who reported dosing and/or scheduling and/or dietary instructions nonadherence in the past 7 days were presented with a modified AACTG list of 18 reasons for nonadherence. From these data, two conceptually and statistically independent factors were obtained, which accounted for 39% of the variance in the data. These factors were used as the basis for constructing two composite measures composing the SNAR index: the Medication concerns scale and the Routine disruption scale. The Medication concerns scale correlated significantly to suboptimal dose and scheduling adherence and Routine disruption scale with poorer dietary instructions adherence. Psychological distress was the best predictor of the SNAR index. The SNAR index has a clearly interpretable factor structure that allows the derived scales to be useful as multi-item measures of self-reported reasons for nonadherence to HIV antiretroviral medications. The psychological factors found to be associated with the index may imply a number of mental-health-related interventions to improve adherence, which deserve further exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We implemented population size estimation of female sex workers (FSW) and transgender women (TGW) in Sri Lanka in 2018 using several approaches (geographical mapping, service and unique object multiplier and a modified Delphi method during the stakeholder consensus meeting). Mapping was done in 49 randomly selected Divisional Secretariats, which provided a basis for extrapolation of size estimates to the national level. Two types of adjustments were applied on the mean (minimum-maximum) population estimate obtained during mapping: (1) an adjustment for mobility to reduce double counting of FSW and TGW frequenting multiple spots, obtained during mapping; (2) an adjustment for "a hidden population", obtained from surveys among FSW and TGW. For the multiplier method, we used data from services of non-governmental organisations that FSW and TGW were in contact with, and surveys based on respondent-driven sampling. Surveys were carried out in the cities of Colombo (FSW, TGW), Kandy (FSW), Galle (FSW) and Jaffna (TGW). We estimated that there are 30,000 FSWs in Sri Lanka, with a plausible range of 20,000–35,000, which implies a prevalence of FSW of 0.56% (0.37–0.65%) among adult females. This study provided baseline estimates of 2,200 TGW in the country, with a plausible range of 2,000–3,500, which is 0.04% (0.04–0.07%) of adult male population. Our estimates of the proportional contribution of the FSW and TGW populations among the adult population in Sri Lanka are consistent with the The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) recommended estimates for Asia and the Pacific. The results provide an important point for macro- and micro-level planning of HIV services, allocating programme resources and assessing programme coverage and quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Men in sub-Saharan Africa are less likely than women to get tested for HIV, less likely to present for treatment, less likely to be maintained in treatment, more likely to have detectable viral load, more likely to transmit HIV with unprotected intercourse, and more likely to progress to AIDS and die sooner from HIV. The ultimate objective of this research is to provide evidence-based strategies to improve HIV testing and treatment of HIV-infected men.Methods: This study is being conducted in the Greater Edendale Area and Vulindlela region in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is a two-stage design of a cluster-randomized trial and an individual randomized trial to test how structural and individual-level interventions address the demand-side factors that affect HIV testing and treatment for hard-to reach, high-risk men. It combines male-focused mobilization, community-based mobile HIV testing services, and a small incentive to determine if the strategies singly and in combination can result in more men diagnosed with HIV, and more men linked to and maintained in care with undetectable viral load.Discussion: A priority for sub-Sahara Africa is developing and evaluating novel and cost-effective strategies for identifying hard-to-reach groups such as men, linking them to HIV testing and care services, and maintaining them in care to the point of viral suppression. We propose a combination prevention intervention that addresses men's individual, interpersonal, and structural barriers to testing and care. This includes male-led mobilization to encourage uptake of testing and treatment, male-focused testing venues, male-only counselors, developing counseling models that are flexible and responsive to men, and strategies for adhering to clinic visits without missing work and navigating the healthcare system. By thoughtfully combining male-focused mobilization, and testing and addressing some of the barriers to male engagement with health facilities, this study hopes to add to the growing evidence base about how to reach, test, link, and maintain a hard-to-reach group such as men in HIV treatment and care services.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03794245. Registered on 4 January 2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a South African medical school in the late 2010s, future health-care professionals are told that young black women from rural areas are the drivers of HIV infection. Like AIDS narratives that have come before, this statement bluntly configures and constructs 'women' and reproduces, perhaps unknowingly, a patriarchal and uncritical engagement with the gendered nature of the AIDS epidemic in something akin to intellectual tunnel vision. The creation of this dominant and narrow vision began long before the AIDS epidemic; it was rooted in histories and discursive traditions of female forms repeatedly traumatised by elite medico-scientific communities. The strength of this intellectual tradition and its perpetuation is evident in articles about AIDS that appeared in the South African Medical Journal between 1980 and 1995, and are analysed in this article. In early AIDS narratives, certain women initially feature as silent sexual partners of men; 'black' women then appear as infecting prostitutes until attention shifts to the pregnant female form. Towards the mid 1990s, the narratives turned towards women and human rights, but, in all these representations, only certain categories of women are visible and many are completely ignored. The article reveals these silences in the medical record and explicitly notes which female forms are seen and which unseen. It explores the changing roles assigned to certain female forms as the AIDS narrative evolved and suggests that the focus on certain types of sexualities or sexual orientation were embedded in unchallenged racialised, sexist, heteronormative modes of research. Finally, the article considers how understanding the history and perpetuation of this tunnel vision could be beneficial to HIV and AIDS research and argues for the necessity of critically engaging with context and complexity in research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]