46% of rural women in India don't know about AIDS/HIV.
As health educators expand their focus in India, only 56% of all women know about HIV/AIDS in contrast to 80% of men.
The Indian government has focused its HIV/AIDS prevention efforts on high-risk groups, such as commercial sex workers and injection drug users, rather than on the general population, according to Reuters. An unnamed government official said that the government is "expanding prevention efforts among the general population in rural areas, especially women, over the next five years." Anjali Gopalan -- head of the HIV/AIDS advocacy group Naz Foundation India -- said the report "shows women don't have access to information, translating into more women getting infected." According to Reuters, women account for 40% of HIV cases in the country. Many women in rural areas contract the virus from their husbands, who travel to cities and visit commercial sex workers, Reuters reports. HIV/AIDS advocates are urging the government to train health workers and send them to rural areas in an effort to educate rural women about the virus (Zaheer, Reuters, 2/23).
Now my girl Neela just got back from India and was mentioning that she noticed much of the education about HIV/AIDS is targeted to poor people. So the question is how much of this education is reaching the middle class or is HIV/AIDS being seen in India as something only affecting marginal, disenfranchised or "high-risk" populations?
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Makes me wonder if they are purposefully kept in the dark by that percentage of men. If she doesn't know about the disease they may carry that could kill her, she won't resist as much when you attempt to force yourself on her. Hmph.
nothing to do with the article... but shouldn't it be 44%? (if 56% know?)
the kaiser network article says 46%. they must be right.
Never mind, it makes sense now. I looked at the article... I was thinking it meant 46% didn't know and 56% did... and was thinking what the hell, that doesn't add up. but it was referring to 46% or RURAL women (not knowing about AIDS) and 56% of ALL women.
It's interesting that the comments on this piece are on the accuracy of the stat and not the content of the post, which is that an outstanding number of women in India aren't aware of HIV/AIDS. What is also interesting about this article is that it sort of demonizes sex workers and puts the onus on women to 'protect themselves' instead of on men, who are the ones who are putting their wives/girlfriends/etc at risk by engaging in unsafe sex in the first place!
African women are also made willfully ignorant of HIV/AIDS and contract HIV and AIDS from philandering husbands. It's doubly tragic because their husbands cheat on them and they get AIDS.