ABSTRACT
The US Centers for Disease Control's official definition of AIDS requires individuals to have HIV plus at least one from a list of opportunistic infections or cancers. Medical studies across the country do suggest that gynecological infections occur with unusual frequency and severity in HIV-positive women. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) insists its own data show that cervical cancer occurs less often in women with HIV. One little-noted Brown University study found that as many as two-thirds of women with HIV suffer from severe and chronic gynecological infections before any officially recognized AIDS symptom appears. In the days of illegal abortion, some women claimed psychological disorders in order to qualify for the procedure. Francine Wilson of Harlem Legal Services says the narrow CDC definition has forced women with HIV into a similar strategy. In response to such pressures, the CDC has now set up a committee to review its definition.
