A report from the HIV Futures Six survey detailing the experiences of women living with HIV/AIDS specifically is now available.
The key findings of this brief report include:
- Women living with HIV/AIDS report a high degree of satisfaction with their health, with almost three quarters of women living with HIV/AIDS (71.1%) rating their health as good or excellent. However, a lower proportion of women (56.8%) rate their general well-being as good or excellent.
- Mental health issues remain an area of concern for women living with HIV/AIDS, with 41.9% of women having been diagnosed with a mental health condition (predominantly depression) and a high proportion of women taking medication for depression and anxiety.
- Women living with HIV/AIDS continue to experience a high degree of difficulty meeting the costs of daily living with 49.6% of women living below the poverty line. Consistent with this finding, women were more likely than men living with HIV/AIDS to use the financial assistance services provided by HIV/AIDS organisations.
The report can be downloaded from the HIV Futures website
R Koelmeyer, K McDonald, M Pitts and J Grierson (2010). HIV Futures 6: Making Positive Women’s Lives Count, Monograph Series Number 77, The Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.