The Appignani Bioethics Center, Guttmacher Institute and Population Council are co-sponsoring a panel discussion on "Feminization of HIV & Macroeconomic Policies." under the auspices of the fifty-third session of the Commission on the Status of Women, at the United Nations headquarters in New York, from 2 to 13 March 2009.
Date & Place: Tuesday, March 10, 2009, 6.00-8.00 PM, 777 UN Plaza, 10th floor - Conference Room, NY 10017
The feminization of HIV relates to gender discrimination and social restrictions. These result in women's lacking access to education and employment as well as decision-making power. Victims of gender violence, women are deprived of sexual and reproductive rights. International agreements and decisions on gender equality must be translated into national legal frameworks and action plans. The focus of this panel is the social, economic, cultural and legal aspects of the epidemic, but to truly understand its feminization we need to consider how macroeconomic policies might improve women's access to resources and political influence.
Our very own Sean Philpott (blogger extraordinaire and Science and Ethics Officer for the Global Campaign for Microbicides, based at PATH) will be presenting on a panel with Helen Epstein (author of the recent book AIDS in Africa: The Invisible Cure), Heather Boonstra (our colleague from the Guttmacher Institute), and Anrudh Jain (from the Population Council).
He'll be talking about research and development of new user-controlled HIV prevention technologies that women can use to protect themselves, focusing on the need for sustained economic investment and ways to increase private industry involvement through novel licensing agreements, priority review vouchers, and advance market commitments. Kudos and thanks!
