Empowering women and HIV in health

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The article is written jointly by Kamala Sarup and Dr. Anand Chhaudhary.

“Equality between men and women is not contingent upon a country’s income level. Equality of opportunity is an enormous political commitment. Women should be empowered to bring their own perspectives to policy making and society development, and to set their own priorities in line with their intrinsic values”. Dr Anand chhaudhary is presently working in the Maldives told me.

I agreed with him because women’s empowerment is about removing all obstacles. Women’s participation in all facets of public and private life and equal participation in economic decisions. It means establishing the principle of power and responsibility between women and men. Young women are becoming increasingly infected with HIV/AIDS at a tremendous rate. A lot of women don’t find out they have HIV until they get sick or detected during pregnancy.
Gynecological problems can be precursors to HIV infection. Ulcers in the vagina, persistent yeast infections and serious pelvic inflammatory diseases (PID) may be signs of HIV. Women had more and different side effects than men. Women are more likely to have rashes, liver problems or changes in body shape than men.

Women need to know more about how they can become infected and have to undergo an HIV test if they believe they have been exposed. In particular, this is the case for pregnant women. If they have HIV, they can take action to reduce the chances of infecting their babies. Contraceptive methods do not protect against HIV. Women should discuss vaginal problems with their physician, in particular yeast infections, which do not go away or vaginal ulcers. This may be a sign of HIV infection. Studies have found that rates of HIV infection among young women can be three to five times higher than among young men.

Dr. Chaudhari said, “We should focus on the promotion of HIV/AIDS as preventable”. AIDS prevention programmes need to be scaled up dramatically to prevent future generations from becoming infected with HIV. So that women can more effectively protect themselves against this disease”. Not only does HIV/AIDS affect the physical and human capital of a country, it also affects its social capital. The outbreak erodes social networks and traditional support mechanisms and calls into question the effectiveness of legal and regulatory institutions. HIV/AIDS has an impact on the corporate sector that “increases expenses and reduces revenues”.

Investing in the health sector for social and economic development makes a lot of sense. Education and awareness-raising are the two powerful tools that can control the spread of the disease. HIV/AIDS should be discussed and possible education on prevention, condom distribution and voluntary testing. Negotiations for good women’s health should include the possibility of a full range of prevention, screening, counselling and, as far as possible, treatment programs.

HIV/AIDS, in addition, can make it more challenging to end poverty. Ensure long-term economic development. It is important to remember how HIV/AIDS enhances instability.Successful HIV/AIDS programs seem to depend on strong community involvement. In an emergency, health priorities are to save lives and then to protect health.
Even HIV infection in women is on the rise, but there are still no programs for the prevention and treatment of women.

There is political instability, and the political crisis has an undeniable effect on women’s health.

(Kamala Sarup is managing editor for http://www.mediaforfreedom.com)

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