Rocking the Red Pump Project!

Today is National Woman and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. Two bloggers, Luvvie and Karyn have created the Red Pump Project in efforts to spread awareness about the fifth leading cause of death in women ages 25-44.

I realize that I am supposed to wear red today in lieu of my support for the cause....but see what had happened was..........yea. I was rushing for work and completely forgot about it this morning. I do, however, have red nails today. Does that count?

Anyway, I can not stress enough how serious a disease this is. In a world where monogamy seems to be an anomaly, it's truly a wonder how people are still out having unprotected sex so freely. I'm sure unprotected sex may feel better and even be more comfortable, but is it really worth risking your life over...literally? Before anyone engages in the act again, everyone should think on that and the value they really put on their lives to begin with. I read somewhere and it rings true, "sex was a secret thing, then it was a pleasurable thing, and now it's a dangerous thing" -paraphrased by a source I now have forgotten

There will be a Happy Hour event hosted in Chicago as well as in Kansas City. More information on those events are found here.

To donate to the cause, click here.

The Red Pump Project also has gear on deck for those interested as well (doing big things, indeed). For the Red Pump Store, click here or just go to the Red Pump Project site and you can purchase items from the left side module found on the page. Here is the link to the site again: Red Pump Project

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Here are some statistics on HIV/AIDS and the effects of them on women and girls, worldwide:

Statistics used are from the Center for Disease Control's website. Although these stats are only taking the United States into account, globally, HIV/AIDS is no less of a problem, especially for women.

Key Snapshot of the U.S. Epidemic Today

• Number of new HIV infections, 2006: 56,300
• Number of people living with HIV/AIDS: 1.1 million, including more than 468,000 with AIDS
• Number of AIDS deaths since beginning of epidemic: 583,298, including 14,561 in 2007
• Percent of people infected with HIV who don’t know it: 21%
  

HIV/AIDS & Women in the United States
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*There are approximately 1.1 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the U.S. & almost 280,000 are women

*In 2006, there were 15,000 new HIV infections and 9,801 AIDS cases diagnosed among women

*There were 3,784 deaths among women with AIDS in 2006

*Among those who are HIV positive, 35% of women were tested for HIV late in their illness (diagnosed with AIDS within one year of testing positive)

*HIV is the 5th leading cause of death in women in the United States, ages 25-44

*High-risk heterosexual contact is the source of 80% of these newly diagnosed infections in women

*According to a CDC study of more than 19,500 patients with HIV in 10 US cities, women were slightly less likely than men to receive prescriptions for the most effective treatments for HIV infection

*Women with AIDS made up an increasing part of the epidemic. In 1992, women accounted for an estimated 14% of adults and adolescents living with AIDS in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. By the end of 2005, this proportion had grown to 23%

*From the beginning of the epidemic through 2005, almost 86,000 women have died of AIDS and AIDS-related complications.

*The largest number of HIV/AIDS diagnoses during recent years was for women aged 15–39

HIV/AIDS & Minority Women
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HIV/AIDS disproportionately affects minority women in the United States. According to the 2005 census, Black and Latina women represent 24% of all US women combined, but account for 82% of the estimated total of AIDS diagnoses for women in 2005.

HIV is:

*the leading cause of death for black women (including African American women) aged 25–34 years.

*the 3rd leading cause of death for black women aged 35–44 years.

*the 4th leading cause of death for black women aged 45–54 years.

*the 4th leading cause of death for Latina women aged 35–44 years.

*The only diseases causing more deaths of women were cancer and heart disease

*The rate of AIDS diagnosis for black women was approximately 23 times the rate for white women and 4 times the rate for Latina women

*In 2006, teen girls represented 39% of AIDS cases reported among 13–19 year-olds. Black teens represented 69% of cases reported among 13–19 year-olds; Latino teens represented 19%

These statistics were pulled from The Center for Disease Control's website and the Kaiser Family Foundation's Fact Sheets (which cited the CDC). Get more information about the effect of the epidemic from these sites.


Be Safe, Everyone,

Ms_Slim