Women and AIDS prevention.

Many women are unaware of their potential risk of becoming infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus presumed to cause AIDS. Other women are confused about what prophylactic measures to adopt to lower their susceptibility to infection. Moreover, the needs of women who do not inject drugs have been largely ignored in media and public information campaigns. Rising rates of AIDS infection among women underscore the need for targeted prevention efforts. In this paper, the risks of the spectrum of HIV-related disease,i.e., HIV seropositive, lymphadenopathy syndrome, AIDS-related complex or full-blown AIDS, for women are described. Methods of disease transmission, prevention means, and issues and barriers to adopting practices for reducing risk of exposure to and transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus are reviewed. Finally, practice, research and policy initiatives for AIDS prevention are offered.