Secretary Clinton: Women and Girls First

Hillary Clinton addressed a world AIDS conference in Namibia and stressed that she and the administration will focus on HIV prevention for women and girls, a population which bears a disproportionate amount of the burden due to socio-cultural norms around the world:

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says the Obama administration will put women and girls first in the fight against AIDS.

Clinton addressed an international AIDS conference in Namibia by video hookup Wednesday.

She says her government will prioritize preventing mother-to-child transmission of the virus that causes AIDS, and work to ensure girls are not forced into prostitution or early marriages.

As First Lady, NY Senator and as presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton has always been committed to fighting HIV/AIDS in the area of prevention, working towards a cure and also dealing head-on with some of the social factors which have allowed the disease to spread at an alarming rate. For those who may not remember, here was her comprehensive position on HIV/AIDS as articulated during the presidential campaign:

The Clinton campaign unveiled its plan to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the U.S. and around the world. The comprehensive approach addresses the multiple challenges that HIV/AIDS has presented for over 25 years and includes investments for increased research, prevention and education, and access to treatment and other services. Hillary’s plan would especially help groups in the U.S. that have seen HIV infection rates rise over the past several years, including African Americans and gay men, and address the continued risk in Latino communities and among women. In addition, Clinton has pledged to increase funding for the global HIV/AIDS fight to at least $50 billion by 2013.

“In many ways, our fight against HIV/AIDS is at a crossroads. While we have made progress in education and developing medicine that keeps those living with HIV/AIDS healthier, we need to be vigilant in ensuring that people are getting the information and care they need,” said Clinton. “I believe with leadership and smart investments we can significantly reduce the number of new infections, develop treatments that turn HIV/AIDS into a chronic but manageable condition, and expand toward an eventual vaccine.”

On the domestic front, Clinton proposes doubling the HIV/AIDS research budget within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to $5.2 billion annually, including the U.S. contribution towards finding a vaccine. Clinton’s American Health Choices Plan will ensure that all Americans living with HIV/AIDS have access to care. Hillary will end the Bush administration’s abstinence-only prevention policy, and instead, fund evidence-based HIV/AIDS prevention programs including, but not limited to, abstinence education as part of a comprehensive prevention message.

As I was looking up statistics on mother to child transmission of HIV, I came across this website, m2m (mothers2mothers) which is pretty amazing in that it deals with one of the primary issues surrounding women and AIDS- empowerment:

mothers2mothers (m2m) recruits mothers living with HIV who have completed a pregnancy. These Mentor Mothers, serve as peer mentors and educators to HIV-positive pregnant women and HIV-positive women who have recently given birth.

Mentor Mothers are trained by m2m certified trainers using a rigorous training curriculum, and are then employed and paid as integral, valuable and professional members of the health care team. They serve a 13 month term, allowing a new group of Mentor Mothers to be hired, trained and empowered each year.

[snip]

m2m is an innovative mentoring program offering comprehensive support for HIV-positive pregnant women and new mothers.

Sub-Saharan Africa shows the highest statistics of mothers and babies infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. Worldwide, 1% of pregnant women are HIV-positive, 95% of these women live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Without care, about 24% of mothers transmit the virus to their newborns, and each year about 3 million of these children will die from HIV/AIDS-related illnesses.

But preventing the transmission of HIV from a mother to a child is a straightforward medical procedure. Its simplest application, a single dose of medication to a mother during labor and a dose to her infant shortly after birth, can cut transmission risk nearly in half. [emphasis added]

Looking at those statistics, it is clear why Secretary Clinton and the admiistration have committed to putting women and girls first.

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