Today, more women than men are infected with HIV worldwide.

It's now known that:

• HIV causes immune damage in women at the same rate as it does in men.

• Women and men are equally likely to develop AIDS.

• Some key tests used to monitor the effects of HIV on the immune system need to be interpreted differently in women and men.

• HIV can affect a woman's menstrual cycle and reproductive health.

• Cervical cancer is an AIDS-defining illness and all HIV-positive women should have regular PAP smears.

• An HIV-positive woman can pass HIV onto her baby but this can be prevented in nearly all cases.

• Women who breastfeed when they are ill with HIV/AIDS may have an increased risk of dying, although more research is needed to confirm this.

• Anti-HIV drugs work just as well in women as men, but the side-effects of some drugs may be different.

This booklet provides information on all of these issues, and also includes some general information on living with HIV.