According to UNAIDS - Young people are leading the HIV prevention revolution!

UNAIDS has made empowering young people to protect themselves from HIV a priority area. It calls on countries to implement a comprehensive set of programmes that put young people’s leadership at the centre of national responses, to provide rights-based sexual and reproductive health education and services and to empower young people to prevent sexual and other transmission of HIV infection among their peers. This can be achieved by ensuring access to HIV testing and prevention efforts with and for young people in the context of sexuality education and by ensuring enabling legal environments, education and employment opportunities to reduce vulnerability to HIV. Young people have shown that they can be change agents in the prevention revolution.

According to recent study done by UNAIDS, the statistics shows -
• HIV prevalence trends in 16 countries show decline among young people 15–24 years.
• Declines are largely due to falling new HIV infections among young people.
• Decline of 25% or more in 15 out of 21 countries most affected by HIV.

The main findings of the study will be presented for the first time at the XVIII International AIDS Conference being held in Vienna in 2010.

The report shows that for the first time reductions in HIV prevalence among young people have coincided with a change in sexual behaviour patterns among people. The report also says that declines in HIV prevalence can be attributed to falling new HIV infections among young people - a breakthrough essential for breaking the trajectory of the AIDS epidemic.

Check the report here - unaids.org

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