The biggest generation of adolescents the world has ever known is providing an ideal environment for the rapid spread of HIV, according to the state of the world population report published today by the United Nations Population Fund.
1.2 billion of the world’s population are aged between 10 and 19, the biggest genration of adolescents in the history of the human race, and half the world’s population is under 25.
At least half of all new HIV infections are occurring in people under the age of 25, says the report, and there is an urgent need to invest in programmes which can reduce the risk of HIV infection and sexually transmitted infections.
The fastest spread of HIV/AIDS among youth is in sub-Saharan Africa, where an estimated 8.6 million youth (67 per cent female) are infected, followed by South Asia where some 1.1 million youth are infected (62 per cent female).
The huge expansion in the adolescent population is one of the causes of poverty in developing countries. Poverty is making young people vulnerable by denying them education and literacy, and forcing young women to sell sex.
Lack of knowledge about HIV, together with a lack of age-appropriate education, is making young people particularly vulnerable. Young women are especially vulnerable, the reports says, when marrying older, sexually experienced men, or when selling sex due to poverty. Recent research in Kenya and Zambia suggests that married girls are more likely to be HIV positive than their unmarried counterparts. These factors add to the biological vulnerability of women.
The report highlights the value of social marketing programmes for condoms that can challenge misperceptions about condom use, and which recognise that young men and women are likely to have different sexual health information needs.
It also emphasises the need for voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) services to become more youth-friendly. Research and experience have identified qualities of effective, youth-friendly VCT programmes:
- Service providers trained to counsel youth about HIV.
- Use of a separate room or alternate site so youth will not encounter family members or adults they know when seeking VCT.
- Free or reduced price of tests for young people.
- Referral system for young clients.
- Outreach to schools and youth groups.
- Multimedia campaigns to inform youth about VCT.