Other Feature

the Other Press

  
 

February 11, 1992

 

Women Can Get AIDS Too: A Study

 

by Dawn Agno

After almost 10 years
of living with the crisis that is
Acquired Immuno-Defiency
Syndrome, people across
Canada are starting to realize
that it is a disease, not a
punishment. But for women,

 

 

the AIDS crisis is alive and:

well. For although tk
perceptions are chan

be infected with the virus;
twenty if you are realistic,”
said Stephen Williams, an
AIDS educator at AIDS
Vancouver.

“ve been HIV
positive fortentotwelveyears.
I was diagnosed a year and a
half ago” said Michael a
person who has_ been
diagnosed for having HIV.

Many women do not
think that they are at any risk
because they trust their
partner, but it only takes once
foryouor your partner to fuck
up for life.

“For many women,
the survival time from an
AIDS diagnosis is half that of
men, “ according to a
pamphlet produced by the
Canadian government.

Whenmostofusthink
of AIDS, we think of it as a
predominantly gay male
disease. Even if many of us
aren’t as closed minded and
guilty of stereotyping, westill
believethat wearer’ tatrisk of

Pen enn

 

 

getting AIDS. The common
excuse is “we always use a
condom”.

Even right in the
middle of that instantaneous,
spontaneous, hot, passionate
ee ea. or just plain

 
  
  
    
   
 
 
 
 
 
  
   
  
 
  
    

inforrmation, from assorted™
pamphletsand booklets by the
government, fail to address a
pressing and dangerously
serious issue: Women and
AIDS.

According tostatistics,
womenrepresent about5% of
AIDS cases in Canada. It is
certainly not surprising that
once again, since women are
the minority, HIV and AIDS
goes on undetected in many
women because ___ the
percentage of women is not
enough to do_ proper
researching and clinical
testing. It is only men who
have been the main issue.

It seems that men are
the only ones that ever get the
diseases. According to the
Centre for Disease Control
(CDC), woman-to-woman

a= =p “rT

contact is not included in the
breakdown for transmission
of AIDS. Women are, and
have traditionally, been

misdiagnosed. They are being
overlooked and
undercounted.

Where drugs or

. proper clinical trials are

concerned, women are often
excluded.

Clinical models of health care
for men are considered to be
the basis for HIV diagnoses
and treatment procedures.

re Although there are illnesses

and chronic infections found
in a woman, until these

 

ptoms ,many

die without the AIDS

iagnoses. This also
mplicates matters when
women seek benefits that are
offered to persons with AIDS
(PWA), such as disability
benefits

contract it through
intravenous drug use(IVDU),
blood transfusions and /or
infected blood products.
Women can get AIDS
through heterosexual sex.
When a woman becomes
heavily involed in a
relationship, the onus is
usually on her to bring up the
issue of using a condom or
safe sex in general. Many

women don’t want to bring

upthesubjectofusinga
because in a seng¢
accusing ‘herman,

    
 
 
 
   
  
   
     
 
 
 

been documented
that have been
through woman-to-w
contact.

For lesbians, AIDS cz

menstrual blood, vagin
secretions, urine feces,
breast mi
bleeding

for ingerfuckite) latex

5% of all PWA's are women.
But women are missed
because of biological

differences.

 

HereinCanada, AIDS
is predominantly a disease of
the heterosexual middle class,
andmany womencontract the
HIV virus through sexual
contact witha bisexual partner
(female and male), and a
significant percentage will

 

ae

eS

 

or sores on your hands, a latex
or vinyl examination glove
should always be used. Any
sex with aman should always
be used with a condom.

The intricate and
complex biological system of
awomanis different from that

     

of a Man; so should be the
symptoms for AIDS. But the
Federal Centre for AIDS in
Canada and _ the Centre for
Disease Control (CDC) in the
United States have not
included the lengthy list of
womenspecificsymptoms for
women, aS symptoms for
AIDS.

It has taken over two
years, since the first National
Conference on Women and HIV

 
    
  

women, is sche
release this mo

    
     

many women
the last two yeai

ity establish as
AIDS that

How many women
have been delayed proper
treatment duetoanundefined
sickness? These women are
notdiagnosedas having AIDS
because the definition for

IDS are male symptoms.
The.

a recurring
infections and diseases are
overlooked by doctors and “
medical personnel don’t look
for recurrent vaginal
infections. ‘Recurrent’ isa key
word” according to Stephen
Williams.

How many of these
women have been turned
away, who unknowingly
carried, passed on and
ultimately died of the
complications caused by HIV?
There are so many questions,
and the answers are quite
frightening. But once women
accept the fact that they can
contract AIDS, and learn to
deal with the reality, then
maybe the consequences
wonr’t beas grave as they are
today.

Dawn Agno has beena staffer
at the Other Press for two
semesters.