Women and AIDS: sociopolitical issues.

HIV infection and AIDS in women will continue without adequate diagnosis and treatment as long as women are not treated as full partners in society. Until issues related to women and their place in society are considered within the sociopolitical context, women who are at risk for HIV infection, those infected with the HIV virus, and those with AIDS will continue to receive inadequate attention. The National Center for Nursing's National Action Agenda, Nursing and the HIV Epidemic, provides some direction for addressing these issues and those that relate to practice, education, research, and health policy. It is incumbent on nurse researchers to conduct research related to the critical issues associated with HIV infection and AIDS in women, disseminate the findings of that research, and use those findings to inform and move health policy in this area forward. It is equally important to understand the issues that affect women--ethnic considerations, sexual practices, IV drug use--within the context or present political climate of our society. That climate allowed an NIH study that could identify risky sexual behaviors of adolescent and adult subjects who consent to participate in such a study to be called to a halt--not because of concerns about the study design or the scientific rigor of the study, but because of an elected official's fear that asking such questions will encourage these behaviors and his personal belief that such issues should not be discussed in polite society. These issues must be brought forward, acknowledged, and discussed if they are to be dealt with effectively. Otherwise, the relentless course of AIDS will continue.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)