ISLAMABAD, July 3: Every day, 6,000 people in the age group of 15 to 24 years get infected with the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) that causes AIDS, according to a United Nations (UN) report released on Wednesday.
The report said a vast majority of the world’s young people had no idea how AIDS is transmitted or how to protect themselves from the disease. Yet, adolescence is the time when a majority of people become sexually active.
These trends, which highlight why AIDS continues to spread so rapidly, are part of a landmark report, “Young People and HIV/AIDS: Opportunity in Crisis”.
Produced by Unicef, UNAIDS and the World Health Organization, it is the first comprehensive look at the behaviour of the people of 15 to 24 years of age and their knowledge of the HIV/AIDS.
The report says that prevention is both cost-effective and feasible, costing as little as $8 annually. In every country where HIV transmission has been reduced, it is among the young people that the most spectacular reductions have occurred.
The report stresses that young people are at the centre of the AIDS epidemic. They are the hardest hit by the disease and form the key to overcoming it. Despite this, anti-AIDS strategies generally disregard young people.
The UN organizations that published the report called for political commitment to manage the financial and human resources necessary for the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Overall, surveys of 60 countries indicate that more than 50 per cent of the people aged 15 to 24 harbour serious misconceptions as to how AIDS is transmitted. It is a strong indicator that young people do not have access to information about the disease.
In some of the countries where the risk of contracting AIDS is high, the proportion of young people who know how to protect themselves is as low as 20 percent. The result is that half of all new infections today are in people between the ages of 15 and 24.
In many countries with high HIV prevalence, unmarried boys and girls are sexually active before the age of 15. Proper condom use and other preventive behaviours, like abstinence, need to be taught early.
The report outlines 10 steps that countries should take as part of their prevention efforts. It advises end to the silence, stigma and shame, dissemination of information, equipping the young people with skills to turn knowledge into practice, youth- friendly services, voluntary and confidential HIV testing and counselling, working with young people, engaging the HIV-positive young people, creating a safe and supportive environment, reaching out to the those most at risk and monitoring the progress.
The report recommends measures to reduce HIV prevalence among those aged 15 to 24 by 25 per cent in the worst affected countries by 2005 and globally by 2010.
It should be ensured that by 2005, 90 per cent and by 2010, 95 per cent of the men and women aged 15 to 24 have access to information including peer education and youth-specific HIV education and services necessary to develop the skills required to reduce their vulnerability to AIDS, the report said.