Half of HIV victims are women

WOMEN make up nearly half of the 37.2 million adults living with HIV and in sub-Saharan Africa the proportion rises to almost 60%, according to a UN report.

“Increasingly the face of AIDS is young and female,” said Dr Kathleen Cravero, deputy executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.

In every region of the globe, the number of women infected with the deadly virus has risen during the past two years. East Asia had the highest jump with 56%, followed by Eastern Europe and Central Asia with 48%.

In sub-Saharan Africa, three-quarters of all 15-24 year olds living with HIV are female.