What will it take to achieve the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women living with HIV?

Abstract

This article outlines progress in realizing the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls living with HIV over the last 30 years from the perspective of women living with HIV. It argues that the HIV response needs to go beyond the bio-medical aspects of HIV to achieve our sexual and reproductive health and rights, and considers relevant Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), World Health Organization, United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), Global Fund and other guidelines, what engagement there has been with women living with HIV and whether guidelines/strategies have been adopted. It has been written by women living with HIV from around the world and a few key supporters. Co-authors have sought to collate and cite materials produced by women living with HIV from around the world, in the first known effort to date to do this, as a convergence of evidence to substantiate the points made in the article. However, as the article also argues, research led by women living with HIV is seldom funded and rarely accepted as evidence. Combined with a lack of meaningful involvement of women living with HIV in others’ research on us, this means that formally recognized evidence from women’s own perspectives is patchy at best. The article argues that this research gap, combined with the ongoing primacy of conventional research methods and topics that exclude those most affected by issues, and the lack of political will (and sometimes outright opposition) in relation to gender equality and human rights, adversely affect policies and programmes in relation to women’s rights. Thus, efforts to achieve an ethical, effective and sustainable response to the pandemic are hindered. The article concludes with a call to action to all key stakeholders.

HIV Viral Non-Suppression and Its Associated Factors Among PMTCT Mothers Receiving ARV Treatment in Ethiopia

“…Ten (10) millilitre venous blood was collected by using two Ethylene diamine Tetra acetic acid (EDTA) tubes and the plasma sample was separated and prepared immediately within 6 hours of after sample collection according to sample collection and transportation guidelines and…”

“…It will . enable a profound decrease in AIDS-related deaths by 2025 and substantially reduce infection to near-zero levels by 2030 [10]. However, until now there are a lot of impediments, like attitude and behavioural problems towards ART medication, physiological change (e.g.…”

“…The third 95 indicate that at least 95% of those on ART should be virologically suppressed (<1000 RNA copies/ml), translating into a final target of at least 73% and 86% of all PLWH (people living with HIV) achieving virologic suppression [8][9]. It will enable a profound decrease in AIDS-related deaths by 2025 and substantially reduce infection to near-zero levels by 2030 [10]. However, until now there are a lot of impediments, like attitude and behavioural problems towards ART medication, physiological change (e.g.…”

‘It feels like my visibility matters’: Women ageing with HIV overcoming the ‘violence of invisibility’ through community, advocacy and the radical act of care for others

“…This responds to the advocacy demands of women living with HIV, articulated elsewhere in this collection, for research that prioritizes the concerns of women living with HIV and explores their experiences holistically. 16 In workshops and interviews with women living with HIV and stakeholders involved in working with women living with HIV, the invisibility of women living with HIV, especially older women, was frequently highlighted. Ageism, sexism and HIV-related discrimination can interact to decrease the visibility of older women living with HIV and to limit their involvement in research and advocacy by creating risks to participation.…”

“…This responds to the advocacy demands of women living with HIV, articulated elsewhere in this collection, for research that prioritizes the concerns of women living with HIV and explores their experiences holistically. 16 …”