From June 25th to the 27th the United Nations Special Session on HIV/AIDSÑwhich aims to intensify global mobilization to the AIDS epidemicÑwill be webcast live at no cost by kaisernetwork.org and transcripts will be available a few days after the session concludes. Also, today the site will feature a roundtable discussion on prevention with representatives from the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, the World Health Organization, and the United States Agency for International Development.
According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, women globally accounted for an estimated 36 percent of new HIV infections in 1997, with women in African and Latin America experiencing the greatest increases in new infections. Women are more susceptible to STDs than men because they are physiologically more vulnerable when they have unprotected sex, they are more often asymptomatic and thus do not seek treatment in a timely manner, and the use of vaginal medications and douching can potentially heighten the likelihood of contracting an STD.
