A PRO-WELLNESS CAMPAIGN: KEEPING YOUNG GIRLS AND WOMEN HIV/AIDS FREE The HIV/AIDS pandemic is arguably the single greatest health crisis of our time. Like other public health and human rights crises, the HIV/AIDS pandemic cannot be reversed by medical science alone. The disease will not be controlled without resolute action and moral courage. HIV/AIDS prevention has not caught up with the technological advances of HIV/AIDS treatment. HIV and AIDS cannot be cured. Prevention is key, especially among women. Paramount to prevention is extensive education. PROJECT REINA’S MISSION Project Reina’s mission is to bridge the gap between the medical community and the female community hardest hit: young Black and Latina women. WHAT IS THE GOAL OF PROJECT REINA? Project Reina’s primary goal is to keep young women and girls HIV/AIDS free through education, promoting prevention and wellness. Project Reina aspires to assist the medical community in informing the general public about the devastating impact of this disease on the lives of adolescent African American and Latina girls within the United States. It is our intention to bridge the gap between the medical community and the average contemporary young women. Research indicates that presenting information in a culturally appropriate and socially relevant manner increases efficacy. By speaking the language of the listener it is our hope to reach those who have, to date, been hard to reach. We will create PSA’s, employing a peer group approach: Girls educating, encouraging and empowering other girls. Young women can lead the work that brings the epidemic to a halt. Project Reina will also host and participate in community outreach programs and fund nonprofit organizations that encourage and support psychological and physiological well of being of young women and girls. WHO ARE WE TRYING TO REACH? Young Black and Latina Women between the ages of 13-24 Young women are the most affected group in the world: They represent 67 percent of all new cases of HIV among people aged 15 to 24 in developing countries. In 2003, teen girls in the US, accounted for 50% of HIV cases reported among those ages 13–19; young women ages 20–24 accounted for 37% of HIV cases in their age group. This more pronounced representation of teen girls and young women may be a harbinger for the epidemic’s trajectory. Women and girls are often ill informed about sexual and reproductive matters and are more likely than men to be illiterate. They often lack negotiating power and social support for insisting on safer sex or rejecting sexual advances. Physiologically, women are at least twice as likely as men to become infected with HIV during sex. Younger women and girls are particularly vulnerable due to her less mature reproductive tract. African-American and Latino children are disproportionately affected. HIV infection is the fourth and fifth leading cause of death in young black children and Latino children, respectively. Through 2001, African-Americans and Latinas accounted for 84 percent of cumulative AIDS cases among women ages 13 to 19 and 78 percent of cases among women ages 20 to 24.3 THE FEMINIZATION OF AIDS In this day and age, if you are talking about women's health, you have to talk about HIV/AIDS. New cases of HIV/AIDS have been rising for women in the U.S. and around the world. In the early days of the epidemic, HIV infection AIDS, were diagnosed for relatively few women and female adolescents. Those days are long gone. In the U.S., men continue to represent the majority of new HIV infections, but the epidemic impact on women is growing. In 1985, women accounted 7 percent of all AIDS cases in the United States; in 1990 women accounted for 13% of new infections and in 2005, the last year statistics are available, women were 26% of the estimated 37,930 diagnoses for adults and adolescents. Women and girls represent one of the fastest-growing groups affected by the disease. It's happening all over the world – and the U.S. is no exception. Globally, about 17.5 million women were living with HIV/AIDS in +2005 – a million more than in 2003. The latest CDC statistics show that in the U.S., AIDS is growing 15 times faster among women than men. What is happening? Sub- Saharan Africa offers a clue. In 2001 there were 28.5 million people with HIV/AIDS. Currently, 60 percent of HIV infections – and 75 percent of HIV infections in people aged 15-24 – are in women. One might argue that women are nowhere more empowered than in America. But the women in America who most lack economic and social empowerment – minority women – are precisely those bearing the brunt of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The data in the U.S. in many ways reflects the issues that women in developing countries are dealing with. These issues have a lot to do with women's sexual and economic power in their societies. American women of color have similarities to women in resource-poor countries – they experience similar social and cultural barriers to protecting themselves from HIV/AIDS. Worldwide, the vast majority of women and girls with HIV/AIDS became infected via heterosexual intercourse, frequently in settings where saying no to sex or insisting on condom use was not an option because of cultural factors, lack of financial independence, and even the threat of violence. These women are 10-to-1 minority women. Many of these women are in their twenties. AIDS is diagnosed in black women at a rate 25 times higher than in white women and 4 times higher than in Latina women. Women of color, especially black women, account for most new cases among U.S. women. AFRICAN AND AMERICAN LATINA WOMEN While racial or ethnic identity and socioeconomic status do not determine HIV infection, structural classicism within the United States leads to a greater likelihood of poverty and drug use in minority, urban communities and creates an environment of high risk for many African American and Latina women. Data from the 2005 census show that together, black and Hispanic women represent 24% of all US women. However, women in these 2 groups accounted for 82% (8,807/10,774) of the estimated total of AIDS diagnoses for women in 2005. Young African-American Women Suffer A Disproportionate Impact from HIV/AIDS From 2000 through 2003, HIV and AIDS rates for African American females were 19 times the rates for white females . Moreover, black women accounted for 67 percent of all new AIDS cases among women in 2003, while white females accounted for 15 percent. Yet, black women constituted only 13 percent of the U.S. female population and whites constituted at least 66 percent. In 2003, black teens (ages 13 through 19) comprised 66 percent of AIDS cases in this age group, although they represented only 15 percent of the teenage population. White teens comprised 11 percent of AIDS cases and accounted for 63 percent of the teenage population. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), black youth comprised the largest single group of young people affected by HIV. As of 2001, they accounted for 56 percent of all HIV infections ever reported among those aged 13 through 24. In 2004 (the most recent year for which data are available), HIV infection was the leading cause of death for black women aged 25 to 44. Latinas at Risk HIV continues to be a major health threat to Latinas in the US. The number of HIV cases among Latinas is rising. Among all Latinos, Latinas account for one out of every five new cases of HIV. Latina women are seven times more likely to get HIV than white women. PROJECT REINA’S MESSAGE It is essential we raise awareness of the increasing impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls in the United States. Raising awareness and encouraging support is essential in efforts to break down stigmas and myths about HIV/AIDS, as public misunderstanding about the virus is pervasive. HIV/AIDS is preventable. We need to change our thinking about this disease and to take immediate action to safeguard the health of our youth. Each of us needs to get tested, to learn our HIV status, and to protect our health. It is our responsibility to cherish our lives and the lives of the ones we love.