New York Times Profiles AIDS Advocate Allan Rosenfield
The New York Times on Wednesday profiled Dr. Allan Rosenfield, dean of the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, who has worked as an obstetrician and AIDS advocate for many years. While working in Africa in the late 1960s, Rosenfield saw how easily treatable conditions -- such as fistula, the tearing of a woman's urethra, vagina or rectum during childbirth -- could persist because of a lack of access to proper health care. He also saw the problems in delivering reproductive health services -- such as family planning information and birth control -- to rural areas in developing countries, according to the Times. Rosenfield also has worked on women's health care issues in relation to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, including mother-to-child HIV transmission. He spoke to doctors and scientists this week in observance of World AIDS Day about the "tragedy" of HIV/AIDS and how it has "decimated" African women, according to the Times. Rosenfield says that "empowering" women is necessary to combat the rising number of HIV cases among women worldwide (Santora, New York Times, 12/1). The complete article is available online.
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