December 1 is World AIDS Day, an opportunity to bring awareness to the fight against HIV and AIDS. This year, the focus of the UN AIDS campaign is “closing the gap,” which means providing prevention, treatment, care, and support services to all people.
Women, particularly young women and pregnant women, are often more at risk for and more affected by HIV. Most cases of HIV infection in women are diagnosed in the reproductive years. According to UN AIDS, in 2013, almost 60% of all new HIV infections among people aged 15–24 occurred among adolescent girls and young women.
An obstetrician-gynecologist is often the first health care professional a HIV infected woman encounters. In addition, many women of reproductive age consider an ob-gyn to be a part of their routine care. Therefore, ob-gyns are a critical part of the fight to increase access to screening, testing, counseling, and prevention methods for all women.
Earlier this year, ACOG released new guidelines to help improve preventive care for HIV. “Routine Human Immunodeficiency Virus Screening” was updated to lower the recommended age for HIV screening to 13, following the CDC’s recommendation that all women ages 13-64 be tested at least once in their lifetimes. The new guideline “Preexposure Prophylaxis for the Prevention of Human Immunodeficiency Virus” recommends preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP), in combination with other proven HIV-prevention methods, as a tool for women at the highest risk of HIV acquisition. More resources for ob-gyns and health care providers are available on ACOG’s Women and HIV website.
Obstetrician-gynecologists are women’s first line of defense against the AIDS epidemic. Join me this month in encouraging your patients to participate in HIV screening and testing.