There are more HIV-infected people in sub-Saharan African being treated with anti-retroviral, but young women are going through a "particularly dangerous time" when it comes to risk of HIV infection.

A new report (.pdf link)released by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) says that in 2015, an estimated 7,500 teenagers and young women became infected with HIV every week globally - but most were in southern Africa, where girls aged between 15 and 19 accounted for 90 percent of all new HIV infections among 10 to 19-year-olds.  In eastern Africa, it was more than 74 percent.

The report also said that much work needs to be done to protect young women from HIV.  Between 2010 and 2015, the rate of new infections among women aged 15 to 24 was reduced by only six percent across the globe.

"Young women are facing a triple threat," said UNAIDS chief Michel Sidibe.  "They are at high risk of HIV infection, have low rates of HIV testing, and have poor adherence to treatment.  The world is failing young women and we urgently need to do more."

The report says that teenage girls and young women are vulnerable because of the grossly unbalanced patriarchy in most of southern Africa:  "It is intricately linked to entrenched gender inequalities, harmful gender norms, and structures of patriarchy that limit women and girls from reaching their full potential and leave them vulnerable to HIV."