HIV/ AIDS

C. HIV/AIDS and young people

19. The current generation of young people has not known a world without AIDS. As a group they are especially vulnerable to contracting and transmitting the disease. There are 10 million young people currently living with HIV/AIDS. Of this number, 6.2 million live in sub-Saharan Africa and 2.2 million in Asia.^f At the same time, youth who are empowered to make informed choices have greater potential and opportunity to drastically reduce the number of new infections.

20. Young people may be more likely than their elders to engage in risky behaviour, making them more susceptible to the risk of infection. Reasons range from a lack of information, peer pressure, inability to calculate risk, impaired judgement because of intoxication, inability to refuse unprotected sex and limited availability of or access to condoms.

21. Globally, almost one fourth of those living with HIV are under the age of 25. One third of women who are living with HIV are between 15 and 24 years of age. The rate of new infection is higher among young women than young men. The increase can be attributed to numerous factors, such as greater biological susceptibility, gender inequalities, sociocultural norms, lack of financial security, forced and early marriage, sexual abuse and the trafficking of young women. In sub- Saharan Africa and the Caribbean, young women are two to three times more likely to be HIV positive then men. In some countries, at least one fourth of young women experienced coerced and unprotected sex, which can result in HIV transmission.^g In Eastern Europe and Central Asia and much of Latin America, however, young men are more likely to be infected than young women. In many regions, injecting drug users and men who have sex with men are particularly at risk.

22. The vulnerability of young people to contracting HIV is particularly highlighted by the fact that young people constitute a significant percentage of highrisk groups in high-risk settings. For example, in several Asian countries, young people constitute over 60 per cent of sex workers. In Central Asia and Eastern Europe, up to 25 per cent of those who inject drugs are estimated to be less than 20 years of age.^h In some regions, especially those with a high prevalence of drug use through injection, the age of initiation of drug use is becoming lower. Another group at high risk of HIV infection is composed of young refugees and migrants. School dropouts, a group of some 120 million school-aged children worldwide, are also disadvantaged, as they lose opportunities to learn about reproductive health and HIV in the stable and credible environment of the classroom.ⁱ

23. There are currently an estimated 15 million children who have been orphaned due to AIDS, having lost one or both parents to the epidemic. Twelve million of those orphans live in sub-Saharan Africa, a number that could rise to 18 million by 2010. Facing inadequate support systems and insufficient resources, they are at substantially increased risk of malnutrition, abuse, illness and HIV infection.^j

24. Intervention policies and programmes at the national and local levels should include life-skills-based HIV/AIDS information and education that would empower young people to make choices and decisions about their health. In order to effectively receive the information, skills and services, young people need to be provided with a supportive environment in which they are safe from harm and supported by caring relations with their family and community.

25. To reduce the vulnerability of young people to infection, Governments should develop accessible and affordable primary health-care services of high quality, including sexual and reproductive health care. It should be accompanied by education programmes for youth, including those related to sexually transmitted disease, including HIV/AIDS. Community-based interventions prove to be highly effective when they specifically target marginalized young people, such as sex workers and injecting drug users, who have poor access to information and services and are at high risk of exposure to HIV/AIDS. Such policies should reflect national commitment and provide the overall context for actions to reduce vulnerability to HIV/AIDS among young people, while allowing for specific interventions to take place. Policies must be based on evidence of what is effective and should be scaled up to address the true scope of the problem. Continued international cooperation and collective global efforts are necessary for the containment of HIV/AIDS. The full range of prevention options must be provided to young people and should focus not just on developing healthy lifestyles, but also on sexual health and behaviour issues. A behavioural change approach includes abstinence, encouragement to delay the start of sexual activity, reduction in the number of sexual partners, and correct, consistent condom use.
 

Footnotes:

f. See UNAIDS, 2004 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic (Geneva, 2004).
g. See UNAIDS and Global Coalition on Women and AIDS, Violence against Women with AIDS (Geneva, 2004).
h. See UNAIDS and Development Cooperation Ireland, loc. cit.
i. See Family Health International, .Reaching out-of-school youth with reproductive health and HIV/AIDS information and services., Youth Issues Paper No. 4 (Washington, D.C., 2004).
j. See UNAIDS, op. cit.