The view of poor & developing countries, In generally we found that women & adolescent girls are more vulnerable to HIV infection on each sexual encounter because of the biological nature of the process and the vulnerability of the reproductive tract tissues to the virus, especially in adolescent girls. For example, young women are generally disadvantaged by gender disparities. In terms of food intake, access to health care and growth patterns, girls are often worse off than boys. The inequalities become evident soon after birth, and by adolescence many girls are grossly underweight. Social Cultural and economic forces make women more likely to contract HIV infection than men. Women are often less able to negotiate for safer sex due to reasons such as their lower status, economic dependence and fear of violence, adolescent girls in the countries.

Adolescents in poor families often do not have the option to make real choices about their sexual and reproductive lives, such as when and whom to marry, whether and when to have children and how many to have, and whether to use contraceptives. Women tend to marry very young: nearly two thirds of adolescents in most South Asian countries marry before 18 years of age, and many even before 15 years, despite laws exclusion such early marriage.

In many poor regions, Women’s limited economic opportunity, and relative powerlessness, may force them into sex work in order to survive with household financial disaster. This exposes them to HIV infection and they in turn will transmit HIV to their clients. In those areas girls are particularly vulnerable to HIV infection, because of intergenerational sexual relationships, violence, and limited access to information. In addition, discrimination and stigma obstruct adolescent girls’ access to health services. Poverty causes increased migration to look for work.

Gender analysis, in relation to HIV/AIDS, has tended to focus on women of reproductive age, and infrequently on young girls, because Young women and girls are increasingly being targeted for sex by older men seeking safe partners and also by those who erroneously believe that a man infected with HIV/AIDS will get rid of the disease by having sex with a virgin. So HIV/AIDS epidemic has been fuelled by gender inequality or discrimination. Unequal power relations, sexual coercion and violence is a widespread phenomenon faced by women of all age-groups, and has an array of negative effects on female sexual, physical and mental health.

In many developing countries, poverty, and gender discrimination between women and men, are both strongly linked to the spread of HIV/AIDS. Gender and age analysis shows the ways in which women and girls of different ages are vulnerable to the infection, and in require of support to allow the survivors to overcome the financial and social effects of the epidemic. In responding to HIV/AIDS and poverty alleviation approaching are interconnected. Therefore health and development workers should work on holistic policies and programmes to reduce poverty and address HIV/AIDS, and Emphasize the need for special efforts to be made to protect women and girls exposed to the risk of HIV/AIDS. Ensure that the legal, civil and human rights of those affected and infected are protected and that women have access to treatment, counselling and support on an equal footing with men.

Source: Rainbow Nari O Shishu Kallyan Foundation

-Mohammad Khariul Alam, HIV/AIDS Programmme Consultant

Mohammad Khairul Alam

plusbangla@yahoo.com

HIV/AIDS researcher

Rainbow Nari O Shishu Kallyan Foundation
The over all HIV/AIDS epidemics situation is low in Bangladesh. But it is increasing very high in some heterogeneous group who are actually vulnerable of HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS spread out very quickly in all over the population. There are many ways in Bangladesh to HIV/AIDS increasing issue.
The cause of poverty, gender discrimination, low prevalence of health facility, lack of reproductively knowledge, illiteracy and high risky behavior may be called epidemic in future of Bangladesh. The atmosphere, which is needed to spread HIV as epidemic of HIV/AIDS, those are present in Bangladesh.
It seems that there are three issues that are appearing to play a crucial position in HIV transmission in Bangladesh: female sex work substance use, Intravenous drug use, professional blood donor and mobility. Female sex workers and their clients have been a major factor in the heterosexual transmission of HIV. Separate but unstable epidemics have been seen in some IDU populations in Dhaka city. And mobile populations, particularly at national borders are at higher risk of HIV acquisition due to the fact of being away from home, community and the anonymity and loneliness of traveling. The following three segments focus on the monitoring of the HIV epidemic in these vulnerable populations.
Commercial/Professional sex workers operate in all over the country. But it is important to know how large the sex-worker population may be to adequately interpret surveillance results. It is hypothetical that in some region, rapid increases in the absolute numbers of sex workers have resulted from significant political, social or economic changes. The nature of sex work and the profile of sex workers vary enormously within and between countries. There are most female sex workers, and those that work full-time, part-time or seasonally. Sex workers may operate in variety of settings such as brothels, riverbanks, bars, parks, under contraction buildings, street corners, hotels, etc. Sex work does not consider in Bangladesh, expect 14 reported brothels. Some HIV/AIDS or social workers suspected that brothel sex worker in Bangladesh is limited, near about 35,000 to 45,000, but other category sex workers is no countable, it is suspected more then 1,00,000. Dhaka city, for example, has approximately 5,000-15,000 female sex workers--an estimate (Source: Rainbow Nari O Shishu Kallyan Foundation). In most Cities, however, validated estimates of the numbers of sex workers are almost non-existent.
All estimates require regular updating and validation but these two approaches are worthy of repetition in other settings. Neither method can work without the trust and involvement of commercial sex workers themselves.
Frequency of exposure to HIV infection through sexual intercourse is the key factor for transmission of HIV among sex workers. For example, there are many countries; a significant proportion of sex workers is infected with HIV. The rates might vary from less than 1 percent to 40 percent or higher in some settings.
Even where HIV infection has not yet increases extensively, STD infection is often very high among sex workers. For example, in one brothel area in Bangladesh, 95 percent of 466 sex workers tested positive to antibodies for genital herpes virus and 60 percent for syphilis, although HIV was not detected among any of them. With the sequence of the epidemic, HIV tends to increase where other STDs are present.
There are many aspects to the nexus of drug use and HIV infection, In most of Bangladesh, people who choose to use drugs (Smoking-drug, morphia, heroin, hashish, Medicare-drug some kinds of sleeping pill, cold syrup, injections etc) that are not all socially sanctioned are treated as entirely outside society, enemies even of the social structure. The factor of Injection/ intravenous Drug Users (IDUs), which is directly can influence of HIV/AIDS, STDs/STI. For the majority of injecting drug users (IDUs), it means that lip-service is paid to the principles supposedly learned through the course of the epidemic: in relation to IDUs and the risks of HIV transmission, issues such as human rights, peer education, community participation, and legal and social change are unachievable fictions.
Besides, better estimation of populations at risk (i.e., those currently injecting drugs, or sex partners of IDUs and populations coming to be at risk), and a better understanding of the dynamics of drug utilization and social association of drug use are all necessary for targeting interventions efficiently.
Populations in Bangladesh are moving across land and sea borders in increasing numbers. International trade supports this growth in population mobility, international border between India and Bangladesh; more than 500 trucks come daily. Also occurring in Bangladesh are high levels of maritime trade, and seamen on fishing vessels travel widely in the region, enabling the transmission of HIV to populations in areas where the virus was previously unfamiliar.
Crossing land or sea borders often requires overnight stays, leaving the individual with idle time and opportunities to visit drinking and gambling establishments and brothels. HIV surveillance data for female sex workers, male STD clinic patients and young males at two sea ports – Cittagong & Mongla --show a clustering of high prevalence sites.

Source: Rainbow Nari O Shishu Kallyan Foundation

HIV/AIDS is now spreading alarmingly in India. During 2002 the number of people infected rose to 4.58 million, up from 3.97 million in 2001 and 2005 is rise 5.1 million. In the last 5 years the infection rate among the commercial sex workers of Mumbai has increased from 1% to 51 %. States in India - Maharashtra, Tamil Naidu, Karnataka, Andhra Pardesh, Manipur and Nagaland have infection rates greater than 1%. The ‘Rainbow Nari O Shishu Kallyan Foundation’ identified four major approaches in a groundbreaking study on spread out HIV in Asia. This study undertook by comparing of social-economic norm, family pattern, economic dependency, cause of mounting sex industries, gender discrimination status & global analysis fact. There are four factors that appear to play a crucial role in HIV transmission in Asian countries: Injection/ intravenous drug use (By sharing needle), female sex work (Due to lack of safe sex knowledge), gender discrimination (which indirectly force females commercial or non-commercial sex), Same sex/ homosexually/ Hizra (Due to lack of HIV/AIDS information, because they act invisible in this society). Poverty & illiteracy fueled it proportionally.
The spread from the high-risk behavior groups to the general populace is another key indicator that HIV/AIDs in India has reached epidemic proportions. The disease is no longer confined to high-risk behavior groups such as intravenous drug users and female sex workers and their clients. The clients, particularly married males, act as the bridge groups, aiding and abetting the spread of HIV/AIDS into the general population in India.

Both married and unmarried men visiting sex workers fuel this epidemic. Assessing the trends in high-risk groups, the study notes that testing for infection at sexually transmitted diseases [STD] clinics has revealed an alarming situation in many states. Even in Kerala, which is not considered a high prevalence state, more than two out of 100 STD patients tested positive for HIV.
In some states, this figure was more than one in 10, and in a high-prevalence state like Andhra Pradesh, it was very high --- three in 10. The study observes that up to 50 percent of sex workers in sentinel sites are HIV positive. This is particularly alarming considering that only about 57 percent of clients of female sex workers reported consistent condom use as per the Behavioural Surveillance Survey 2001.
The HIV/AIDS programme specialist Mr. Mohammad Khairul Alam said, “several social norms and immature behavior fueled of this disease to scatter rapidly. There are several social components link to develop this harmful situation. Poverty-behind to force it, Gender discrimination plays a vital role; Frustration & risk behavior help to sink humanity resulting infection. The link between poverty & gender discrimination are help to decline socio economic prosperity. This link creates several anti social poisonous issues also. Such as trafficking to prostitute, sell sex for earn or living, break down family norm to create frustration and driven drug point. We notice easily that Illiteracy is the main watchword of all circumstance. So it is not easy to remove it from the society, several programs & strategy are needed to gain sustainable position”.
A Rapid Assessment Survey (RSA) of drug users in 14 cities collected and collated street-based information on drug use and drug-related HIV. In-depth thematic studies of drug use in the border areas, female drug users, drug use in rural areas and patterns of drug use in prison populations were also launched. A National Household Survey having a sample size of over 40,000 males in the 12-60 age group, documenting the extent, patterns and trends of drug use in India was a major part of the research collaboration.
RSAs conducted in Jamshedpur, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Shillong, Dimapur, Thiruvanthapuram, Goa, Ahmedabad, Imphal, Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata indicate that 43 per cent of clients interviewed had injected at some point. Needle sharing was reported by 53-85 per cent of injectors. Non-cleaning of needles/syringes was common and knowledge of modes of HIV/AIDS transmission was limited. Consequently, risk-perception of HIV was low. Significantly, women drug users also reported injecting drug use. Clearly, there is need to extend interventions and prevention activities into areas other than the north-eastern states and particularly the metropolitan cities of India where injecting drug use is a problem. There are over 100,000 estimated injecting drug users in India outside of the north-eastern part of the country.
References: Rainbow Nari O Shishu Kallyan Foundation, UNAIDS

• 51 Billion Dollar Industry


• The Spear of Longinus


• Salvation Army, Not Just A Religion, A Charity Worth Giving To


• Besmirching Manipur Media


• The Hypogeum of Malta - A Great Underground Burial Chamber


• Michelangelo Merisi di Caravaggio - His Paintings in Malta


• How to Send Care Packages to Troops Overseas


• Disbelieve People of Fame or Pillars in the Community Could Possibly Sexually Abuse Children


• The Darkest Day


• Hollywood Collapse