HIV and Women’s Health: Where are we now?

This article is a part of a joint Special Collection on HIV and Women’s Health between Women’s Health and Therapeutic Advances in Infectious Disease.

Bakita was invited to co-guest edit this collection with Dr Shema Tariq.

Women make up over half the global population of people living with HIV, with trans women 49 times more likely to be living with HIV than other adults of reproductive age. However, only 25% of HIV clinical trial participants are women. The HIV epidemic is gendered. Women are biologically and socially more vulnerable to HIV acquisition. They experience biologically distinct events such as pregnancy, breastfeeding and menopause which not only bring considerations regarding management, but also shape experience. Furthermore, women living with HIV are more likely to live in poverty, have mental health difficulties, and to report violence than their male counterparts.

In this special collection we aim to bring together high-quality, innovative and cutting edge writing on women and HIV. We aim to provide an overview of current understanding of prevention, management and experiences of HIV among cis- and transgender women.

The collection will be published via a continuous publication model and new articles will be added throughout 2022, which can be accessed here.

You can access the first article Bakita guest edited, ‘HIV and Women’s Health: Where Are We Now?’ here.