HIV Infection and AIDS Among Young Women in South Africa

Young women in South Africa are at great risk of being infected with HIV. In 2005, HIV infection prevalence in the age group 15-24 years was 16.9% in women and 4.4% in men (1). The high HIV prevalence in this country is a result of a number of factors which include the following: poverty, violence against women, cultural limitations that promote intergenerational sex, non-condom use and preference for “dry sex,” political factors and challenges that possibly prevented an aggressive response against HIV, recreational drug use, and biological factors such as high prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STI). This essay will present and discuss the prevalence of HIV among young women in South Africa and the reasons for such a high prevalence in the country. I will also give an overview of the intervention programs that are currently under way with an aim to reduce the vulnerability of young women in South Africa. Finally, I will suggest what further interventions need to be provided in order to prevent and control HIV spread in South Africa and other southern African countries.