BRASILIA, Brazil — The Brazilian Government, UNFPA, UNIFEM, UNICEF and other partners will launch a pioneering anti-HIV plan today, as part of the International Women's Day commemorations in Brazil. The initiative, the first of its kind in Latin America, is designed to curb the feminization of HIV infections and aims to raise awareness and help women become less vulnerable to HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

The Brazilian Government, UNFPA and other partners hope to: 

• Expand voluntary testing in order to double the number of women tested for HIV from 35 per cent to 70 per cent.
• Reduce, by 2008, mother-to-child transmissions of HIV from 4 per cent to less than 1 per cent of infants infected with the virus.
• Increase female condom procurement from 4 million this year to 10 million in 2010.
• Eliminate congenital syphilis.
• Invest in research about the epidemic.

The initiative could not come at a better time, according to organizers. HIV infection rates among women in Brazil increased by 44 per cent between 1996 and 2005. This means that HIV positive women represented up to 40.2 per cent of registered cases as of 2005.

According to the Minister of the Brazilian Special Secretariat for Women’s Affairs, Nilcea Freire, "Brazil will be the first country in the region to implement a national plan to confront the feminization of AIDS. This means to incorporate, in a definitive and unequivocal manner, the factors that make women more vulnerable to HIV and their specific needs into the national response against the epidemic.”

Globally and in every region, more women than ever before are now living with HIV – with an estimated 17.7 million women living with HIV in 2006. Since 1985, the percentage of women among adults living with HIV/AIDS has risen from 35 per cent to 48 per cent globally. Of particular concern are the dramatic increases in HIV infection among young women, who now make up over 60 per cent of 15-24 year-olds living with HIV/AIDS.

"Only by addressing the specific needs, as well as the human rights of women, will we change the course of the epidemic,” says UNFPA Representative in Brazil, Alanna Armitage. “The United Nations Population Fund is deeply committed to advocating for the human rights of women and we are convinced that the plan launched today in Brazil will make a real difference in women's lives."

Ana Falú, Regional Programme Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), says that the rise in the number of infections among women is a global phenomenon, which reflects the inequalities in power relations between women and men. “This demands specific attention, and that’s why the Brazilian plan is so important.”

Girls and women are more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, but can also help change the course of the epidemic. “However, it should be clear that stopping the feminization of the epidemic is everyone’s responsibility, men and women,” says Marie-Pierre Poirier, Representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Brazil.

The new plan will be launched in Rio de Janeiro's "Samba City", a tourist complex consisting of samba schools, workshops and warehouses, where the annual Carnival parades are prepared. Community leaders, government officials and other authorities will be invited to attend.

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UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is an international development agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. UNFPA supports countries in using population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect.

Contact Information:

Brasilia: Etienne Franca, tel: +55 61 8127-7306 (cell), franca@unfpa.org

Mexico: Trygve Olfarnes, tel: +52 1 55 1353-8451 (cell), +5255 5250-7977 (office), olfarnes@unfpa.org

New York: Patricia Leidl, tel + 1 (212) 297-5088, leidl@unfpa.org