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Counting on Gender Development
Containing Spread of AIDS

Anirudha Alam

HIV/AIDS is not merely a health issues. It is sorely a development issues undoubtedly. The vulnerability to HIV/AIDS has a grave and in-depth impact on every aspect of life. So the responses from all the levels and parts of the societies are very much necessary to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS any how. In this regard, centering upon the collective action, gender development should be well-defined involving the particular roles of government, civil society and the private sections.

It is deeply depressing thinking that sixty per cent of new HIV transmissions are to women and fifty two per cent to young adults worldwide. To get rid of this pernicious situation, gender development is the gateway to salvage commitment to making headway in integrating responses to subdue the AIDS epidemic. Entering upon the partnership developed to flourish collaboration with GOs, NGOs and communities across assorted sections and at miscellaneous levels, gender development activities have to be tooled up to contribute to the national fight against HIV/AIDS.

In the development countries, self-sustained development is being hampered by gender inequality. As per the findings of an in-depth research entitled Vulnerability to AIDS due to Gender Discrimination' conducted by BCC Network in 2006, 80% rural young people who are severely vulnerable to HIV/AIDS in Bangladesh are certainly women. They do not have enough livelihood education to win over the war of poverty at all. So they have to choice the easy way for earning their livelihood apparently engaging themselves in risky behaviors.

Coping with time and need paying heed to gender development, AIDS prevention may entail a multi-pronged approach which integrates reproductive health literacy, women empowerment, provision of such protective measure as condoms, prevention of sexual violence as well as safeguarding human rights. Assessing specific responses to non-discriminatory practices and identifying the risk factors for HIV/AIDS for both women and men along with defusing the associated stigma and gender-based violence come in containing the impact of HIV/AIDS on a sector comprehensively. As a result, AIDS education and work-place prevention underpinned by well-founded gender policy are able to internalize the gender development effectively.

It is likely that spread of AIDS is more than a social problem. It is the curse due to the lack of changing societal values, attitudes

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