Such focused intervention can increase HIV testing and may serve as a blueprint for broader efforts. Associated Press A review of 250 studies found that sex education programs that tell teenagers how to avoid pregnancy and AIDS do not encourage them to experiment with sex and in some cases discourage it. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy sponsored the report Emerging Answers, written by ETR Associates Senior Researcher Douglas Kirby. Advocates of abstinence- only programs believe that talking about the benefits of birth control while encouraging abstinence sends a mixed message, but the report disagrees. Teen pregnancy, abortion and birth rates have been falling since 1991, and birth rates are now at the lowest level recorded, with about 50 out of every 1,000 girls ages 15 to 19 giving birth in 1999, a 20 percent drop since 1991.
Experts point out that teen sexual activity has dropped as use of condoms has increased.
Kirby's report found eight programs that showed evidence of success -five sex education programs, two community service programs that included group discussions and one intensive program that combined sex education, health care and activities. A group of seven peasants from Wenlou village in central China said yesterday that the government had done almost nothing to help those dying from AIDS, orphaned by AIDS or too poor to buy AIDS medicines. The group, which included two young boys whose parents died from AIDS and an elderly woman who lost two adult children, traveled hundreds of miles to Beijing from the village in a last ditch appeal for help. They risked retribution to bring a letter written by village leaders that accused the local authorities of indifference and claimed that a clinic that opened in the village is insufficient. The letter also accused the staff of pilfering medicine and spending their time drinking and playing cards.