One in five persons newly diagnosed with AIDS is between 20-29 years old which means the HIV transmission occurred while they were in their teens. Worldwide, six young people are infected with the AIDS virus every minute. The United Nations is calling it an epidemic. UN officials hope that working with people under the age of twenty-five will help reduce the epidemic among the young. They speculate that numbers are rising in part because many kids are still deprived of AIDS information due to adult fears that education will increase sexual promiscuity.
Statistics show the reverse is actually true.
In 1998, more than 8500 children worldwide were infected with AIDS each day. Officials are particularly concerned about the rate of transmission in the 10-14 age group. Know Studies show most kids understand how AIDS is transmitted and how to avoid infection, but they don t believe it will happen to them. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that many kids are engaging in high-risk behavior which makes them vulnerable to AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. According to the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drugs, sexual behavior among teens is often linked to drug and alcohol use.