Psychological Impacts and Treatment of HIV/AIDS among Nigerian Women: New Perspective toward Cultural Implications and Gender Equality

Nigeria is a heavily populated country in West Africa and highly enriched with natural resources, a country that is very much encoded with high cultural values and appears to severely constrain women to attain their potential. Too often, women (young and old)tend to bear the heavy cost of caring for family members with certain illnesses. Worst still, Nigerian women very often are automatically sentenced to social isolation when infected with HIV/AIDS, for instance. This article extensively reviewed some national, continental, and global studies conducted in the past related to the prevalence, causation, and treatment of HIV/AIDS among Nigerian women. While exploring these variables in the Nigerian context, this extensive literature review demonstrated the high-risk vulnerability of Nigerian women as against their male counterparts in regards to the causation and cultural attitude toward individuals struggling with HIV/AIDS. Such a level of vulnerability is also psychological as they struggle with HIV/AIDS illness and automatic cultural and social isolation.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS; Psychological impacts; Gender inequality; Cultural and treatment implications