This December first marks World AIDS Day. It's a day I hope we'll all be happy not to mark on the calendar in years to come. Especially alarming this year is the recent World Health Organization's report Women and Health, which cites HIV and AIDS as the number one cause of death and disease in women worldwide, ages 15 to 44. To be sure, many cases result from forced sexual acts and prostitution, drug use, and lack of education and access to health care in the developing world. But the developed world has its share of women infected with HIV who can't claim a lack of awareness or education on how to prevent the spread of this Grimm Reaper. So it's no wonder that the study also found that women, no matter where they live, provide most of the health care while receiving little in return; that while women live longer, those years are not often healthy; that more than ever, a woman's socio-economic status, no matter if she's in the developed or developing world, is what predicts her health and quality of life outcomes.
There's a wonderful book out, as you can see by my selection for book of the week, called Half the Sky, written by Nobel prize winners Nicholas Krustaf and Sheryl Wudunn. Please take the time to get this book from your local library or bookseller and read through it. An amazing journey of heartache and of hope, it shows how the education of women can lead to empowerment in cultures that see women as little more than necessary for breeding more men. Simply learning to read and write gives women better health throughout their lives. And the more empowered women are, the better their communities thrive, whether in Africa or the United States.
This Tuesday, wear a little red, and acknowledge the millions of women who die every year from HIV/AIDS, our number one killer. Learn more about prevention, progress on a vaccine, and cultural differences that threaten different groups of women in this deadly disease. Empower yourself and someone you love. This December first, hold up more than your half of the sky.
For more information on the WHO's report visit: http//:whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2009/9789241563857_eng.pdf
There's a wonderful book out, as you can see by my selection for book of the week, called Half the Sky, written by Nobel prize winners Nicholas Krustaf and Sheryl Wudunn. Please take the time to get this book from your local library or bookseller and read through it. An amazing journey of heartache and of hope, it shows how the education of women can lead to empowerment in cultures that see women as little more than necessary for breeding more men. Simply learning to read and write gives women better health throughout their lives. And the more empowered women are, the better their communities thrive, whether in Africa or the United States.
This Tuesday, wear a little red, and acknowledge the millions of women who die every year from HIV/AIDS, our number one killer. Learn more about prevention, progress on a vaccine, and cultural differences that threaten different groups of women in this deadly disease. Empower yourself and someone you love. This December first, hold up more than your half of the sky.
For more information on the WHO's report visit: http//:whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2009/9789241563857_eng.pdf
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