HRSA Releases ‘First-of-its-Kind’ HIV/AIDS Treatment Guide for Women

The HIV/AIDS Bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration yesterday released a "first-of-its-kind" manual to help doctors better understand and treat the "unique problems" HIV-positive women face, Reuters/Washington Times reports. The 508-page guide is geared toward primary care physicians and others "on the front lines of medicine" and details how HIV affects women differently than men. The woman-specific issues covered in the guide include gynecologic conditions, child-bearing concerns and unique social issues. Dr. Jean Anderson, associate OB/GYN professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the guide's editor, said that the manual helps fill "a lot of gaps in people's understanding. ... [P]eople who did a lot of HIV care didn't necessarily know what were the special issues for women. And providers who did a lot of health care for women didn't know much about HIV." HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson added, "This new manual could not be more timely. HIV infection among women has become the fifth-leading cause of death among women between the ages of 25 and 44." In addition, women represent a larger proportion of newly reported HIV cases than they did 15 years ago, with 24% cases occurring among women between July 1999 and June 2000, compared to 6% in 1985 (Reuters/Washington Times, 5/16). The guide is available on the Internet at http://hab.hrsa.gov/womencare.htm.