Women's Rights are human rights - The right to adequate health care

Flair continues its series on women's rights as discussed by the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and presented in the booklet CEDAW for Jamaicans.

Many women and girls in Jamaica who are infected with HIV face discrimination. Some children living with HIV/AIDS report that they cannot trust caregivers for fear that their personal information will be revealed to others.

Some 20,000 children in Jamaica are affected by HIV/AIDS and young women in the Caribbean between 15 and 24 are up to six times more likely to be infected with HIV than men.

CEDAW recommends that the Jamaican Government target adolescents to combat HIV/AIDS, adopt measures or get rid of discrimination against women and girls infected with HIV, and raise awareness of issues related to women's health, including their sexual and reproductive health and rights.

This is an excerpt from an article published in the Jamaica Gleaner on Monday, March 31, 2008. You can read the entire article at the Jamaica Gleaner website.