Women in Ostensibly Monogamous Relationships Make Up Fastest-Growing Segment of Colombian Population With HIV, Women’s Enews Reports
Women in ostensibly monogamous relationships account for the fastest-growing segment of Colombian people with HIV, Women's Enews reports. Prior to 1990, one Colombia woman was HIV-positive for every 15 HIV-positive men. By 2000, the ratio had decreased to one to four, according to Dr. Wilson Castro, medical director of the Eudes Foundation, which runs one of the largest AIDS centers in the country. Anecdotal evidence collected from support groups for women with AIDS and health care workers suggests that many women are acquiring HIV while in relationships that they believed were monogamous. According to Miriam Cossio, a coordinator for Giurasol, a support group in Bogota, many women are "too ashamed" to ask their partners to be screened for diseases before beginning a relationship and are often reluctant to insist on condom usage. President Alvaro Uribe, who took office six weeks ago, has not indicated how his government plans to tackle HIV/AIDS (Martinez, Women's Enews, 9/17).
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