Women and HIV
HIV is a virus that infects people’s bodies and attacks the cells that help fight infection and disease. HIV causes AIDS, a life-threatening disease.
Why is HIV testing important?
The HIV test is voluntary, so you choose to test. You have the right to ask any questions about HIV and the HIV test before you choose.
Women who are tested and treated earlier have better health and quality of life than those testing later in their disease.
HIV often goes unrecognized. About 25% of people with HIV in Maine don’t know they are infected, because they haven’t been tested.
In 2006, nearly 15,000 — or more than a quarter of new HIV cases in the United States — were among women and girls ages 13 years and older. Women of color are especially impacted by the disease.
Health officials recommend that everyone between the ages of 13-64 get screened for HIV.
