Women--The Neglected Victims

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Women--The Neglected Victims

Detroit News (12/28/97)
Tobin, James

Abstract: Although women represent the fastest growing subgroup of people with AIDS, the majority of disease prevention and research on the virus has been conducted on males. For example, while women make up 20 percent of new AIDS cases, they only account for 12 percent of all government-sponsored drug trials--such a disparity slows physicialn in their treatment of the disease in women, resulting in negative disease prognosis for HIV+ women. The problem may be tied, in part, to the recently lifted law prohibiting drug testing among women of child-bearing age. Researchers still are not required to include women in studies or compare results by gender. AIDS has also affected more males than females. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 92,000 females have contracted HIV, compared to over a half-million males. However, all of these factors combined present a poor picture for research into AIDS and its effects on women. Hoping to address this deficit in research, researchers are now working on two long-term studies of HIV- positive women in nine cities, but they warn that conclusive findings are still years away.

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