Health: Record Warns of HIV Catastrophe

Society | October 10, 2003, Friday // 00:00

A young person is infected with HIV every 14 seconds, a report from the United Nations Population Fund reveals. Around 6,000 people between the ages of 15 and 24 catch the disease every day. Half of all new infections are now in people under the age of 25 and most of these are young women living in the developing world.

The report, called The State of World Population, shows that nearly half of the world's population is under the age of 25. Of these, 87% live in developing countries.

One in four or 238 million live in extreme poverty, surviving on less than $1 a day. Some 57 million young men and 96 million young women between the ages of 15 and 24 cannot read or write. More than 13 million children under the age of 15 have lost one or both parents to AIDS.
The report suggests that poverty, illiteracy and poor services are combining to help spread HIV among young people. It also shows that two out of three young people with HIV are female.

The report says that many women in developing countries are unable to protect themselves against the disease. In many cases, they do not know how it is spread. In Somalia, for instance, only 26% of females have heard of Aids and only 1% know how to protect themselves. Others simply do not have the power to negotiate safer sex or refuse sex.

Millions of young girls marry older men every year. In many cases, the men are much more sexually experienced and girls find they are unable to get them to use a condom. The report calls for better health education programmes and improved services to help get safe sex messages across to young people.

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