African AIDS Prevention Programs Should Focus on Supporting Women, Opinion Piece Says
Although antiretroviral treatment is a "crucial part of the strategy" to combat HIV/AIDS, the drugs alone "cannot solve the crisis" in Africa, Jeremy Laurance, health editor of London's Independent, writes in an opinion piece. Laurance says that "[e]mpowering women through legal, educational and economic measures is the only way" to combat the disease because the "burden of AIDS falls disproportionately on women" in Africa. Laurance says that although HIV/AIDS is a "distant threat" for men, it is "men who need to change and women the only people able to make them do so." According to Laurance, initiating antiretroviral drug programs is "crucial," but if "drugs cannot solve the problem, women may." He concludes, "A more concerted drive is needed to help Africa's women. If the help were focused on women, it would be more likely to be taken up and, through them, have the greatest chance of impacting on men. Women have the incentive to change that men lack" (Laurance, Independent, 5/17).
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