Inabilities to Cope With HIV

Communities in Crisis Women United Nations researchers say women'particularly poor women and those living in developing countries'are biologically more susceptible to HIV infection and less able than men to cope with HIV disease because of cultural, social, and economic factors. Helen Jackson, the U.N. Population Fund's HIV adviser for southern Africa, says physiological data suggest women may be twice as susceptible as men to HIV infection, which could help explain why nearly 60% of all new HIV cases in the world are reported among women. Financial dependence on male partners often leaves many women unable to negotiate condom use or to refuse to have sex, even if the man is known to be HIV-positive, the researchers say.