Among the many noteworthy reports from the 14th International AIDS Conference in Barcelona, Spain, most had a familiar but still alarming message: AIDS will likely kill more women than men in the future.

In the United States, according to Ronald Valdiserri, deputy director of AIDS prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "black women are suffering a highly disproportionate toll in the epidemic now." In fact, according to CDC data released at the AIDS conference, there is evidence of a "mini-epidemic" of HIV infection in black women.

• From 1994 through 2000, 27 percent of new HIV infections
  in the United States were acquired through heterosexual contact.
• The biggest growth was among black women, who accounted for about 50 percent of all cases of HIV infection acquired heterosexually.

Noting similar lethal statistics for other countries, Stephen Lewis, UN special envoy on HIV/AIDS in Africa declared, "This pandemic has become a war on women. AIDS has become the ultimate symbol of gender inequality."

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Q & A on HIV/AIDS Initiative                         HIV/AIDS & Women