HHS encourages women and girls to take action against HIV/AIDS

Today, National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day observes females nationwide, and encourages people to take action in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Coordinated by the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health (OWH), this day is meant to highlight the importance of developing products that women and girls could use independently of their sexual partners to protect themselves from HIV.

According to the OWH, more than 278,000 women and teenage girls in the US are infected with HIV, and an estimated 101,000 women and girls have died of AIDS since the disease was first recognized.

In the US, the majority of women become infected with HIV through sex, often in settings where refusing sex or insisting on condom use is not an option because of cultural factors, financial dependence or even the threat of violence. Therefore, the OWH supports research of products for women to protect themselves from HIV.

“While men account for most HIV/AIDS cases, the impact on women is growing. In addition, research shows that, when compared to men, women face gaps in access and care,” according to the OWH.

Nationwide, organizations will come together today to offer support, encourage discussion, and teach women and girls about prevention of HIV, the importance of getting tested for HIV, and how to live with and manage HIV/AIDS.

Every year on March 10, National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is observed, however, the OWH encourages organizations to hold events and spread awareness throughout the month of March.

Lawsuit Settlement Gives Women’s Health A Boost

Some organizations in Nashville will be getting a large chunk of money to promote women’s health after a recent class-action lawsuit settlement.

Vanderbilt Medical Center and Meharry Medical College will each receive more than $1 million. Safe Haven Family Shelter and The Nashville Lawyers’ Association for Women will receive thousands of dollars.

They were all part of a group of plaintiffs that sued the makers of the hormone-replacement drug Estra-Test, claiming that it was falsely advertised.

The Nashville awards are part of the leftover money that a federal court has ordered to be given to nonprofit organizations nationwide.

This year’s Women of Achievement named

The 2011 class of Women of Achievement includes community organizers, philanthropists, a doctor, a health advocate and a jewelry designer, among others.

For more than 56 years, the Women of Achievement organization has recognized women who have a record of leadership in volunteer service in the region. Ten women are selected annually for the honor and are feted at a luncheon at the Ritz-Carlton that is regularly a sold-out event.

This year’s luncheon will be May 10.

The honorees are: Lisa Boyce of St. Louis who will be recognized for Youth Enrichment, Karen Castellano of Town and Country who will be recognized for Community Service, Margo Deloch of St. Louis who will be recognized for Humanitarian Concerns, Diane Katzman of Ladue who will be recognized for Creative Philanthropy, Becky Kueker of Maryville, Ill., who will be recognized for Volunteer Leadership, Lisa Nichols of Chesterfield who will be recognized for Youth Dedication, Pam Toder of Ladue who will be recognized for Women’s Health, Dr. Corinne Walentik of University City who will be recognized for Health Leadership, Carol Weir of St. Louis who will be recognized for Senior Health Advocacy and Fran Zamler of Olivette who will be recognized for Community Betterment.

The luncheon chair is Suzie Nall and co-chair is Barbara Bartley Turkington. They will be assisted by a committee of former honorees. Alice Handleman is president of Women of Achievement.

Bills seek to limit abortions

The approval of two Arizona bills will place limitations on abortion availability and prohibit funding to programs.

With a vote of 40-18, House Bills 2384 and 2416 both passed the House, according to the Arizona State Legislature.

“The anti-choice legislators in our legislature have pretty much launched the most shocking attack on women’s health that I’ve ever seen,” said Michelle Steinberg, a public policy manager and lobbyist for Planned Parenthood.

H.B. 2416 would prohibit outlying areas in Arizona, such as Prescott, Flagstaff and Yuma, from distributing abortion pills, Steinberg said. In order to dispense abortion pills, the health centers have to be set up as surgery facilities, like those in Phoenix and Tucson. Viagra online Australia

“If you restrict availability to only Phoenix and Tucson, you’re creating a huge, huge burden for women who live outside those communities,” she said.

Women living in rural communities will be losing a significant amount of care due to this limited availability, Steinberg said.

Women will then have travel costs and be forced to delay their abortion procedure, Steinberg added. Prolonging abortion could result in women needing to have surgery. This is dangerous because it puts women at potential risk for even more invasive procedures, she said.

“If you’re eligible for an early, early abortion and you delay your care, and you end up having surgery, that’s a direct result of this bill,” Steinberg said.

In addition, H.B. 2416 also requires health centers to perform an ultrasound one hour before the abortion procedure, she said. At that time, the patient would listen to audible body sounds. Before the House approved the bill, Planned Parenthood had already been performing ultrasounds as standard procedure, but did not have patients wait an hour. There is no medical reason for a patient to have to sit and think about their decision, she said.

“They want women to change their minds,” Steinberg said.

Arizona state legislators such as Republican Rep. Kimberly Yee, from District 10, support the two bills. Yee has said in the past that H.B. 2416 is about protecting health safety for women and the one-hour requirement gives them the opportunity to make more educated decisions.

Calls to Republican legislators were not returned as of press time.

The second bill, H.B. 2384, prohibits public funding and the use of federal tax money for organizations that do abortion referrals and provide abortion coverage in their health insurance, Steinberg said.

“The law prohibits any public dollars or public funds as being directed toward training,” said Democratic Rep. Matt Heinz, from District 29 of the Arizona State Legislature.

Steinberg said that H.B. 2384 “works to make sure that Planned Parenthood gets absolutely no public money.” There is a state tax credit that offers donations to the working poor. However, Planned Parenthood is disqualified from participating in the program, she said. The bill sets up barriers for people who want to donate money to this health facility.

“By disqualifying Planned Parenthood, you’re really just taking money away from women who are receiving valuable life-saving care,” she said.

Supporters of H.B. 2384 have previously said that they don’t want state funds being used to promote abortions.

At the University Medical Center, law has prohibited teaching abortion procedures since 1974, according to an email statement from Katie Riley, the director of media relations and spokesperson at the Arizona Health Sciences Center.

Riley noted that Dr. Kathryn Reed, the department head of obstetrics and gynecology at the Arizona Health Sciences Center, confirmed that H.B. 2384 could affect an estimated 80 residents.

Kristin Anchors, a first-year graduate student of the College of Medicine, said that medical students cannot learn about abortion on campus. Students have to go to Planned Parenthood or get information on their own by going to conferences in other cities, she said.

“I find myself going out of my way to learn these things and to understand the law so that someday I can still provide this service for somebody in the future,” Anchors said, “which is kind of strange that I have to do that.”

Heinz said he suspects the obstetrics and gynecology program at the UA will not be in compliance for national accreditation because it requires the training program to offer the option of abortion-training procedures to their residents.

“It’s simply, purely a training issue and it should be left alone by the legislature,” Heinz said.

He also said the bill creates an enormous hurdle for the university to have to deal with in order to comply with the law.

“They’re doing everything that they can to intrude on a woman’s personal, private medical decisions,” Steinberg said.