Women account for approximately 23 percent of people with HIV in the United States. In recent years, women aged 25 to 34 comprised the highest number of new diagnoses. Furthermore, Black women, transgender women, and women aged 13 through 24 are more likely to experience health disparities associated with lack of access to HIV testing, treatment, and prevention resources. This weekend marked National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. NIAID supports research programs that focus on HIV and other health outcomes in women to inform and enable more targeted and effective HIV prevention, care, and treatment.
American Women: Assessing Risk Epidemiologically (AWARE)
The AWARE project aims to explore the multiple risks and vulnerabilities that lead to higher rates of HIV and other sexually transmitted infection (STI) acquisition in women, including transgender women. In the United States, the rate of new HIV diagnoses in Black women is about 14 times higher than their non-Black counterparts, and AWARE is designed to engage diverse racial and ethnic minorities, including Black women. AWARE is a national digital cohort with a primary goal of identifying women with greater likelihood of acquiring HIV and investigating contributing factors. The research group also seeks to design tailored and effective approaches to reaching women who reside in rural and underserved communities of color with HIV prevention and awareness resources.
CAMELLIA Cohort: A Longitudinal Study to Understand Sexual Health and Prevention Among Women in Alabama
The CAMELLIA Cohort supports cisgender and transgender women in Alabama who had a recent STI acquisitions and are impacted by disparities surrounding the lack of access to and the utilization of PrEP. The research program also uses a population-based approach to better understand how the quality of HIV and STI testing, in addition to HIV PrEP access, can be improved. CAMELLIA is sponsored by the University of Alabama at Birmingham in collaboration with NIAID and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
HIV and Women at the 2024 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI)
At CROI 2024, NIAID-supported studies reported results on women-controlled HIV prevention and cardiovascular health in women with HIV:
- Pregnant people are three times more likely to acquire HIV than those who are not pregnant. The NIAID-sponsored DELIVER study, conducted by the Microbicide Trials Network, showed that the dapivirine vaginal ring and oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and emtricitabine- were each safe for HIV prevention throughout pregnancy. The large clinical study was conducted in Malawi, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Learn more about the DELIVER results presented at CROI.
- A new analysis from the NIH-supported REPRIEVE trial found that the elevated cardiovascular disease risk among people with HIV is even greater than predicted by a standard risk calculator in several groups, including Black people and cisgender women. The study team concluded that updated tools are needed to facilitate precision, high-quality care of the diverse population with HIV. REPRIEVE enrolled 7,769 people with HIV across 12 countries, of whom 31% were women. Learn more about the REPRIEVE analysis presented at CROI, and the primary analysis that found pitavastatin reduced the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events by 35% in people with HIV.
The NIH Office of AIDS Research (OAR) and Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) jointly lead NIH’s HIV and Women Signature Program. The cornerstone of this new program is an intersectional, equity-informed, data-driven approach to research on HIV and women. The Signature Program advances the NIH vision for women's health, a world in which all women, girls, and gender-diverse people receive evidence-based care, prevention, and treatment tailored to their unique needs, circumstances, and goals. A new position paper, published February 26 in The Lancet HIV, outlines the framework for NIH's approach to research on HIV and women and highlights selected topics of relevance for women, girls, and gender-diverse people with or affected by HIV. The program also supports women in science careers to meet their full professional potential. From March 21-22, the OAR and ORWH will host the NIH HIV & Women Scientific Workshop: Centering the Health of Women in HIV Research. The workshop will review the state of the science on HIV and women to inform the future research agenda. Learn more.
The 2024 U.S. government theme for National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is “Prevention and Testing at Every Age. Care and Treatment at Every Stage.” NIAID remains committed to advancing HIV research and prevention efforts for cisgender and transgender women alike.