Health Professionals: Your Role in Women's Health

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HIV/AIDS

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• Helpful Handouts for Patients
• Additional Resources

HIV/AIDS does not discriminate. Although some Americans continue to associate HIV/AIDS primarily with gay men, people of any sexual orientation, gender, age, and ethnicity can and are contracting the disease. Many women aren’t aware that:

• Women account for more than one-quarter of new diagnoses of the disease in the United States.
• Minority women are at greater risk. In fact, a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) survey of HIV/AIDS incidence in the U.S. indicated that African American women were 14.7 times more likely than white women to test positive. Hispanic women were 3.8 times more likely.
• Among newly diagnosed cases in women, approximately 80 percent come from high-risk heterosexual activity.   

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recently recommended that all women be tested for HIV/AIDS, regardless of their risk factors. CDC also recommends that all patients undergo routine screening during office visits. Are your patients getting tested? Here are some take-home materials to help them understand their risk factors for HIV/AIDS:

Helpful Handouts for Patients

1. Women and HIV/AIDS - Studies show that women are contracting HIV at higher rates than men. Patients who are diagnosed with HIV may feel lonely, angry, and afraid. However, many women diagnosed with HIV go on to live happy and meaningful lives. Health professionals can refer patients to this web site if they have been diagnosed with HIV and they are looking for more information about HIV/AIDS and women.
2. HIV/AIDS among Women - A CDC fact sheet that talks about the numbers of women affected by HIV/AIDS, with discussions on factors such as age and ethnicities. It also discusses risk factors and barriers to prevention. (PDF file, 584 Kb)

3. HIV/AIDS among Women who have sex with Women - There are no confirmed cases of female-to-female transmission of HIV/AIDS in the U.S., but transmission is possible. This sheet discusses how women having sex with women are at risk and what they can do to help prevent transmission. (PDF file, 296 Kb)

Additional Resources

Publications

1. Health Professionals: Answers about Vaccine Research - To help with HIV vaccine research, health professionals need the most accurate and current information concerning HIV and clinical trials. This fact sheet provides information that health professionals can use to answer the questions of patients considering clinical trial participation. (PDF file, 77 Kb)

2. A Guide to the Clinical Care of Women with HIV - This guide is for health professionals who provide primary care to women with HIV. This publication also provides information for health professionals who are looking for more specific information to treat women with HIV.

3. Recommendations for the Use of Anti-Retroviral Drugs in Pregnant HIV - Infected Women for Maternal Health and Interventions to Reduce Perinatal HIV Transmission in the United States - This document provides recommendations for health professionals when administering and prescribing anti-retroviral drugs and agents to pregnant women who are infected with the HIV virus. (PDF file, 5.6 Mb)

4. Medical Care of HIV-Infected Substance Abuse-Using Women - This publication provides guidelines for health professionals who are treating HIV-infected patients who also have substance abuse problems. This publication also provides ways to incorporate the guidelines into your practice.

5. Medical Care for Menopausal and Older Women with HIV Infection - This publication provides guidelines for health professionals who are treating HIV-infected older women and women who are menopausal. This publication also provides ways to incorporate the guidelines into your practice and what drugs are recommended for this group of women.

6. What You Need to Know: Microbicides: Prevention of HIV/AIDS, STIs and Unintended Pregnancy (Copyright © The Body) - Microbicides have been shown to help in the reduction of transmission of STIs and HIV and to aid in the prevention of pregnancy. As a health care professional, this publication provides ways in which microbicides are helpful and ways that you can administer them to your patients. (PDF file, 541 Kb)

Organizations

1. AIDS.Gov
2. AIDSInfo
3. Division of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (DAIDS), NIAID, NIH, HHS
4. Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, NCHSTP, CDC, OPHS, HHS
5. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH, HHS

= Federal government resource

Content last updated December 1, 2008.