Infection Rate Increases in U.S. Women

The proportion of new HIV cases among women in the United States is increasing at the fastest rate in the world, according to a study by the United Nations Development Fund for Women. The percentage of U.S. female HIV cases climbed from 20% in 2001 to 25% in 2003 (actual amounts rose from 180,000 to 240,000). About 80% of the new infections in women were African-Americans and Latinas. A separate study by researchers at the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality found that HIV-positive American women with private insurance are prescribed antiretroviral drugs far less often than their male peers. Only 39% of such women were prescribed anti-HIV drugs, compared to 71% of HIVpositive men with private insurance. U.S. women also were shown to be about half as likely as men to be prescribed newer, more expensive anti-HIV medications.