March is a crucial month for ladies’s well being and empowerment as we observe Worldwide Girls’s Day on March 8 and Nationwide Girls and Women HIV/AIDS Consciousness Day (NWGHAAD) on March 10.
These observances are a time to mirror on the progress made towards ladies’s rights. Additionally they tackle ongoing well being challenges, notably the affect of HIV/AIDS on ladies and ladies.
The significance of NWGHAAD
Established in 2005 by the U.S. Division of Well being and Human Companies’ Workplace on Girls’s Well being, NWGHAAD goals to boost consciousness in regards to the affect of HIV/AIDS on ladies and ladies.1 Today focuses on the significance of HIV prevention, testing, and remedy, encouraging ladies and ladies to take cost of their well being.
In the US, ladies account for about 22% of individuals dwelling with HIV. Nineteen % of latest diagnoses in 2022 had been ladies.2 These statistics spotlight the continuing want for particular prevention and training efforts for ladies and ladies in the US.
Girls, particularly these from marginalized communities, face distinctive challenges in HIV prevention and care. Stigma, socioeconomic components, and restricted entry to healthcare can hinder efforts to scale back HIV from spreading.3 Addressing these obstacles requires culturally delicate approaches and group engagement.
Developments and ongoing efforts
Advances in HIV testing, remedy, and prevention have led to important progress towards ending the HIV epidemic. Initiatives like pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) are one of the necessary developments in HIV prevention, serving to to guard ladies and ladies who could also be in danger for the virus.
PrEP is a every day prescription remedy that may cut back the chance of getting HIV from sexual contact by as much as 99%.4 Nevertheless, continued efforts are mandatory to make sure these developments attain all ladies, notably these in underserved populations.
Taking motion: What could be achieved?
Taking motion to forestall HIV and AIDS begins with empowering your self and your group by way of training, advocacy, and entry to the suitable sources:
Training and consciousness. You may educate your self and others on HIV transmission, prevention, and remedy choices and share this data to fight stigma and promote HIV and AIDS consciousness.Common testing: Common HIV testing is among the most necessary steps towards prevention and early remedy. Encourage family and friends to get examined as properly.
Apply and promote secure behaviors. Encourage practices like utilizing safety, discussing HIV standing with companions, and following remedy plans if dwelling with HIV.
Enhance entry to care. Assist join ladies and ladies to healthcare suppliers and applications that provide reasonably priced or free providers, together with HIV testing, remedy, and counseling.
As we observe Worldwide Girls’s Day and Girls’s Historical past Month, it is crucial that we perceive that with out intentional actions, prevention efforts will proceed to fall quick on this public well being subject. Collectively, we are able to work in the direction of a future the place HIV/AIDS is not a menace to ladies’s well being.
BESTMe
Navigating grief with skilled care and help
Grief is among the most tough experiences in life. It will possibly convey up many feelings that have an effect on how we cope with loss or change, and the way we go about our every day lives. There isn’t any “proper” method to grieve; dealing with loss takes time and endurance. Getting assist from professionals could make this journey simpler.
Grief is the expertise of dealing with loss.5 Whether or not it’s the dying of a liked one, the top of a relationship, or the lack of a house, grief impacts everybody in several methods. Some feelings related to grief could be:6
Anger
Unhappiness
Denial
Guilt
Shock
Disbelief
Melancholy
Nourishing your psychological well being
Daily, tens of millions of individuals face the challenges of loss, making it essential to nurture psychological well being and develop resilience in powerful occasions. AmeriHealth Caritas DC enrollees can entry psychological well being and behavioral well being providers to assist them navigate these tough occasions:
Emotional help providers by way of textual content. Enrollees can chat stay with educated behavioral well being coaches by way of the Headspace Care and MindRight apps to assist talk about any life challenges. In case you are age 21 or older, obtain the Headspace Care app from the Google Play retailer or Apple App Retailer. Enrollees ages 12 – 30 ought to textual content 886-886 and use the referral code “AmeriHealth” as they enroll in MindRight and start texting with a help coach.
988 Suicide & Disaster Lifeline. The 988 Suicide & Disaster Lifeline supplies confidential emotional help to individuals in suicidal disaster or emotional misery 24 hours a day, seven days per week for gratis.
For added emotional help for you, your little one, or a member of the family, name Enrollee Companies at 202-408-4720 or 1-800-408-7511 to be related with a behavioral healthcare supplier.
Sources
“Nationwide Girls and Women HIV/AIDS Consciousness Day,” Nationwide Institutes of Well being, HIVinfo, https://hivinfo.nih.gov/understanding-hiv/hiv-aids-awareness-days/national-women-and-girls-hiv-aids-awareness-day
“The Influence of HIV on Girls in the US,” KFF.org, https://www.kff.org/hivaids/fact-sheet/the-impact-of-hiv-on-women-in-the-united-states/#:~:textual content=Overview,olderpercent20agespercent20thanpercent20menpercent20are
“The Influence of HIV on Black Individuals in the US,” KFF.org, https://www.kff.org/hivaids/fact-sheet/the-impact-of-hiv-on-black-people-in-the-united-states/
“Pre-Publicity Prophylaxis,” HIV.gov, https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/hiv-prevention/using-hiv-medication-to-reduce-risk/pre-exposure-prophylaxis#:~:textual content=PrEPpercent20ispercent20highlypercent20effectivepercent20at,itpercent20isn’tpercent20takenpercent20consistently
“Grief,” Cleveland Clinic, https://my.clevelandclinic.org/well being/illnesses/24787-grief
“Bereavement and Grief,” Psychological Well being America, https://www.mhanational.org/bereavement-and-grief, https://www.cdc.gov/heart-disease/data-research/facts-stats/index.html
All photos are submitted by AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia and are used below license for illustrative functions solely. Any particular person depicted is a mannequin
