However, it does not peak until the early 20s, possibly because teenagers have greater difficulty obtaining condoms and have not yet developed skills to ensure their use. Since sexual activity in this group is high, ensuring that teenagers can exercise the right to protect themselves from risky sex should be a major concern of prevention programmes. Here, too, the message that condom use means safer sex seems to be acted upon more by young people than by the older groups. Demographic and Health Surveys, various countries Figure 14. While the provision of adequate care for people with HIV infection is essential, preventing the virus from spreading in the first place is the most effective way of reducing the impact of the epidemic on families, communities and society.
Prevention does work.
To be credible and most effective, it should be provided alongside care. And prevention works particularly well when it is focused on the needs of the young. Young people, because they have not yet developed rigid habits in their sexual behaviour, may be most willing to adopt safer behaviours from the start of their sexual lives. Coupled with this, young people need access to prevention tools and youth-friendly services where they can get counselling and reproductive health care, including treatment for STDs. Yet in many places in the world, the necessary services are simply not available at all, or not accessible to those that need them most.