Mission News: Why Should I Care?

Near

In 2004, over 60% of newly diagnosed HIV and AIDS patients in Maryland were among residents of the Baltimore/Towson metropolitan area. At the end of the 2004 year, 63% of people living with HIV in Maryland lived in Baltimore and 60% of those living with AIDS lived in the same metropolitan area.

& Far

Often complicating the AIDS situation is gender inequality that can undermine any program advocating abstinence, fidelity and condoms. Girls are pressured or forced to have sex. In Mozambique, 40% of teens are bearing children. Marriage (average age for girls - 17) can also be a risk factor, since women are unsure of their partners’ fidelity. The United Nations Development Fund for Women reports that in Kenya and Zambia, younger, married women have a higher risk of infection than single women their age.