Searchlight Vol. 3, no. 1

HIV in Women Increases While
Services and Care Lag Behind
by Karyl Draper, R.N., MS. W, Dina Rosen, L.C.S. W, and Constance Wynne, MS. W

The authors of this article are each facilitators
of women's HIV/AIDS support groups in the Los
Angeles Area, and are members of the SEARCH
Alliance Women's Advisory Board.
Although the Human Immunodeficiency Virus is
spreading faster in the female population than in
any other group, women are still not receiving
the kind of medical care, education and support
services that have been the hallmark of the gay

rapidly becoming the fourth leading cause of
death in women.
In spite of these alarming statistics, services, prevention and research are still primarily based on
the needs and symptoms of men. Women are frequently perceived primarily as carriers of the disease infecting men and children, but not as
infected themselves. The misperception that
women are not a part of the at-risk community

REPORTED CASES OF AIDS FOR WOMEN
~24,323
25,000 243
23,000 (end of
21,000 July, 1992)
19,000
17,000
15,000
13,000
11,000
9,000
7,000
5,000
3,000
1,000
'84 '85 '86 '87 '88 '89 '90 '91 92

has been painfully slow
to change. The Center for
Disease Control guidelines for an AIDS diagnosis has, until very recently, excluded symptoms
specific to women-but
even the proposed new
definition includes only
one of the many illnesses
that are unique to
women with AIDS (see
article, page 1). Drug
studies, community
support systems and
HIV/ AIDS education
have also failed to target
the needs of women.
Often one's lack of economic and/or employment resources prevents
her from obtaining quali
Given the tremendous pressures of living with
HIV, women need to access support, particularly
through other HIV infected or AIDS diagnosed
individuals with whom they can identify.
Although women have been welcomed and supported in services established by the gay community, these services tend to be based on a male
model, and consequently better suited to meeting
the specific needs of infected men. In discussing
AIDS issues, relationships, sexuality, symptoms
and treatment are paramount and clearly lend
themselves to gender specific groups. An analogy
can be made to the success of cancer support
groups which are typically targeted to specific
types of cancer, for example breast or prostate
cancers-the issues faced by the group members
being specific not only to the type of cancer but
also to gender.
Support groups designed specifically for women
have only recently emerged, some within existing
agencies and some independent-yet memberships have remained fairly low and attempts at
Continued on page 16..
Proposed New AIDS Definition
Continued from page 1...
to be published and implemented in January,
would increase the official list of people with an
AIDS diagnosis an additional 40,000 individuals
each year, Ward said. Currently, it is estimated
that more than one million Americans are
thought to be infected with HIV. More than
242,000 individuals are classified as having
AIDS-defining illnesses under the current CDC
guidelines, and approximately 152,000 have died
from the disease.
The major benefit of receiving an AIDS diagnosis
is eligibility for government entitlements including social security benefits, MediCaid and
MediCare. Anticipating a large increase in the
number of people who will become eligible for
benefits due to the new definition, federal, state
and local officials have indicated that they intend
to change eligibility rules to make it more difficult to receive government benefits.
E 5 5 0 5 0 5 5 5 0

Centers for Disease Control's HIV/AIDS Surveillance Reports. Numbers are
cumulative starting year ending 1984. Reprinted with permission from the
National Consumer's League.
community's response to HIV/AIDS. Mispercep- misdiagnosi
tions about the risk women face with HIV and the of specific g
social pressure of traditional women's roles con- perpetuates
tinue to keep women from testing and protecting
themselves from HIV. Traditional
same sexual
In 1990, the LosAngeles Times reported study pounds the
results showing H1V infection had decreased in already con
men by a rate of 18% and increased in women munity at la
by 29%. Within a year of this report, the rate of sexually trap
infection in women shot up an additional 10%. cate the pro
It is currently estimated that 570 women in Los ily as caregi
Angeles have AIDS-and this number may be others' need
low, since many may not be given the proper this comple:
diagnosis. By the mid 1990's, approximately not surprisil
three million women and children worldwide will great difficu
have died as a result of AIDS. At this rate, AIDS is medical and

ty health care, while
s by physicians who are unaware
ynecological symptoms in HIV/AIDS
the problem.
roles still censure women from the
freedom that men enjoy; this comnegative stigmatization that HIV
jures, and with which the AIDS comrge is all too familiar-that AIDS is a
nsmitted disease. To further compliblem, women see themselves primarvers, and will more often than not put
is ahead of their own. Considering
x system of psychosocial issues, it is
ng that HIV infected women have had
lty making needed social, political,
I mental health demands.

Page Six

SEARCHLIGHT January/February,1993 3 1, 1.0