National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day 2024

Sunday, March 10, is National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NWGHAAD) 2024. This year marks the 19^th annual observation of NWGHAAD, the theme of which is “Prevention and Testing at Every Age. Care and Treatment at Every Stage.”

Organized by the Office on Women’s Health, a division of the Department of Health & Human Services, NWGHAAD is important, according to WomensHealth.gov fact sheet, because:

HIV and AIDS are still widespread public health issues, and women continue to remain vulnerable to infection—especially African-American and Hispanic women. In fact, any woman who has sex can get HIV, regardless of race, ethnicity, age, or sexual orientation. An estimated 1 million people in the United States had HIV at the end of 2020, the most recent year for which this information is available.

[The 2024 theme] reemphasizes the need to further prevention efforts and ensure equity in HIV care and treatment. It also reinforces three goals of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which concentrates on the prevention of new HIV infections, improving HIV-related health outcomes of people living with HIV, and reducing HIV-related disparities. By working together, we can help eliminate HIV and improve the quality of treatment and care for people currently living with HIV.

Search #NWGHAAD on social media for awareness campaigns and related events. Several samples are embedded throughout this article.

For #NWGHAAD AIDSVu’s spoke with Dr. Ifeoma Udoh of @blkwomenshealth on #HIV prevention and #healthequity for Black women. Read more today: https://t.co/289U5RXet9 pic.twitter.com/BwDwdcf2SY

— AIDSVu (@AIDSVu) March 7, 2024

For more data about women and girls, check out AIDSVu.org, which organizes HIV data into interactive maps and offers relevant profiles and graphics. In its NWGHAAD tool kit, AIDSVu writes:

Women with HIV are often underrepresented in the HIV conversation, despite representing 23% of all people living with HIV in 2021. Women are also less likely to perceive themselves as at risk for HIV. They often do not receive HIV and prevention-related information from health care providers and their communities adequate to their risk.

In 2021, 18% of the new HIV diagnoses in the United States were among women. Black women continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV, accounting for 54% of new HIV infections in U.S. women, despite making up 14% of the female population.

Additionally, a recent CDC study found that Black transgender women accounted for 62% of HIV infections among transgender women with HIV living in seven major U.S. cities. Black women are also underserved by prevention methods such as PrEP [pre-exposure prophylaxis] relative to their need. Among all PrEP users in the U.S. in 2021, 92% were male and only 8% were female, despite the fact that women comprised 18% of new HIV diagnoses.

65% of all women were virally suppressed in 2021, but research suggests percentages vary by race/ethnicity and gender identity.

Check out AIDSVu’s Deeper Look: HIV among Women.

AIDSVu also created this video, “A Love Letter to Black Women”:

Happy International Women’s Day from AIDSVu! Check out our #NWGHAAD Deeper Look today to learn about how #HIV impacts women and girls: https://t.co/qUoafAJ5jv pic.twitter.com/MEU62g8bOb

— AIDSVu (@AIDSVu) March 8, 2024

In related news, the POZ March 2024 issue highlights women. Feature articles include “Live to Tell,” which explores how Madonna has been uplifting the HIV community since the early days of AIDS; “Centering the Voices of Women Living with HIV,” in which Naina Khanna bids farewell to the Positive Women’s Network–USA; and “A Work in Progress,” a profile on Tatyana Lebed, who addresses the needs of women who use drugs in Ukraine. The issue also includes the Basics on HIV and Pregnancy, details about the HIV prevention vaginal ring approved for use in Africa and a post from The Well Project titled “Women Survivors.”

Madonna on the cover of POZ March 2024

And visit “2024 HIV and AIDS Awareness Days” to download a poster and learn about upcoming awareness days.