Question
Are women or men more affected by HIV?
2 March 2006. Related: All topics.
Answer
About 50% of the 45 million estimated people living with HIV (HIV-positive people) are female and 50% are male.
An increasing percentage of new infections are being reported though amoung women, who are often more vulnerable to HIV, being infected by their primary sexual partner. This involvesa range of important social aspects relating to infection rather than just purely medical aspects.
Although different risks have been estimated by different types of exposure, not using a condom for vaginal or anal sex is the highest. Risk factors include whether your partner is HIV-positive, how much virus they have in their body, whether they are on treatment, the type of sex you have,whether the man is circumcised, if there are other sexually transmitted infections and other related factors like whether you have cuts in your mouth (for risks linked to oral sex).
A condom provides good protection against HIV.
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