Women at Risk : Issues in the Primary Prevention of AIDS

The reader will find information on prevention programs that have been effective for adolescent girls, on culturally specific strategies for African American and Latina women, and on the multiple issues of sub­ stance use and HIV that need to be faced by any outreach and intervention programs for drug-using women.

AIDS is the fourth leading cause of death among women of childbearing age and is increasing by about 8% a year in this group. * And yet, our understanding of the impact of HIV and AIDS on women''s lives remains fragmented and incomplete. After a decade of struggling with mounting surveys of risk behavior, clinical trials, and behavioral interventions that were based primarily on experience with gay communities in large cities and, subsequently, on the needs of injection drug users, we have not given programs for women the attention they require if they are to be meaningful, effective, and gender appropriate. This book will introduce the reader to the range of complex issues of HIV and AIDS in women''s lives. Ann O''Leary and Loretta Sweet Jemmott have assembled an impres­ sive list of authors who have contributed chapters from different disciplinary viewpoints. The reader will find information on prevention programs that have been effective for adolescent girls, on culturally specific strategies for African American and Latina women, and on the multiple issues of sub­ stance use and HIV that need to be faced by any outreach and intervention programs for drug-using women.