Abstract
Three million Nigerians are currently estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS, making it the third largest country with number of infected persons (USAID, 2010). Prevalence among young women ages 15 to 24 is nearly four times higher than the prevalence among young men, at 2.3% compared to 0.8% (USAID, 2010). This study sought to examine some of the social factors that predispose women in Nigeria to HIV/ AIDS, by focusing on both the religious and gender dimensions of HIV/AIDS risk. For the majority of Nigerians, religion is more than an organized system of beliefs. Nigerians, on average, attend a church, mosque or other religious service more often than most other nationalities (Oluduro, 2010). Therefore, any HIV/AIDS prevention program that does not recognize the effect of religion on Nigerians could fail.\r Also, Gender inequality is marked in Nigeria: the nation is ranked 120th in the 2011 Global Gender Gap Report of the World Economic Forum. As shown below, gender inequality relegates women to the background in terms of access to economic and social freedoms, and poses a major threat to public health issues such as the HIV/AIDS.\r Christianity and Islam, the two major religions in Nigeria, have similar and different views on factors that predispose women to HIV/AIDS. This study compared and contrasted the effect of Christianity and Islam on HIV/AIDS risk among women across the regions. From the results below, the role of religion in HIV/AIDS prevention and risk is multifaceted. For example, direct effect of religious doctrines like abstinence could have a positive or negative effect on HIV/AIDS risks. While it is clear from the results below that factors like education, wealth/ income and healthcare access play an important role in the HIV/AIDS risks, it was also clear that gender inequality and religion influences these factors.