Women in Africa most affected by HIV/AIDS

Need own UN agency to address needs, UN Special Envoy Lewis says

"HIV/AIDS disproportionately affects women and girls in Africa, necessitating a new U.N. agency to focus specifically on women and HIV/AIDS, U.N. Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa Stephen Lewis on Friday said at a news conference, Reuters Canada reports. Lewis, who had just returned from a trip to Lesotho and Swaziland, said a recent government study shows that 56% of pregnant women in Swaziland between ages 25 and 29 are living with HIV/AIDS and that about 30% of 15- to 17-year-old girls in Lesotho are living with the disease. An estimated 43% of HIV-positive people ages 15 to 49 in Lesotho are men, and about 57% are women, Reuters Canada reports. The rate of HIV-positive women in Swaziland is 'the highest prevalence I have ever encountered in the last five years,' Lewis said. He added, 'What has happened to women is such a gross and palpable violation of human rights that the funding must be found,' saying that a well-funded and influential agency targeting women would reduce the HIV prevalence within the group."
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