These women, all former TB patients, work as community health volunteers in Tanzania where they provide care to local villagers living with TB and HIV. © Petterik Wiggers/Panos for the Open Society Institute.

In many social and cultural environments, women face an extra burden in accessing health care. Today, almost 60 percent of people living with HIV and AIDS in southern Africa are female, and young women between the ages of 15 and 24 are four times more likely to be infected than young men. Women’s and girls’ needs for HIV prevention, treatment, care and support differ substantially from those of men and boys. Despite this, most HIV and AIDS programs fail to address the specific needs of women and girls in their messages, care and support systems, and prevention strategies.

OSI’s Public Health Program is working to address the specific vulnerabilities of women and girls—particularly marginalized women such as young girls, sex workers, women who use drugs, and Roma women.