Governments and parents must do better on HIV, say youth

7 August 2008: Poverty, peer pressure, pornography and poor sex education make young people across the globe unnecessarily vulnerable to HIV infection, according to youth delegates attending the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City.

Sex education is inadequate in too many countries and that parents are too often unwilling to discuss sex with their children, the youth delegation of Plan, the leading children’s NGO, said.

The young people from 5 continents warned that governments lack the political will to tackle the economic and social factors that encourage the spread of HIV among young people.
 
Sukrit Dusang, aged 17 from Thailand, warned that the easy availability of pornography made this the primary source of information about sex for many young people. “This is not the best way to learn about sexuality and sexual health. The earlier young people are taught about sex the better for their lives,” he said.

Manuel Calles, 21 from El Salvador, said: “More young people are having sex in early adolescence and we are seeing more young pregnant women and more people with sexually transmitted infections. Although it is children and young people’s right to receive information about sex and sexuality, families and governments are resistant.”

The threat posed by HIV in Latin America is increased by a macho culture which puts young men and boys under pressure to have sex with many partners as soon as they reach adolescence. Other local traditions, such as early marriage, put young people at risk in Africa and Asia.

Poverty threat

Young Plan delegates from Africa, Asia and Latin America warned that poverty plays a key role in the spread of HIV among young people on their continents. Economic hardship leaves them vulnerable to sexual exploitation by adults, including through prostitution. In Latin America, many parents are forced to migrate to seek work, leaving their children without guidance and vulnerable to sexual exploitation.

The delegates called on governments to give a higher priority to tackling these problems and to face up to the real life problems and pressures faced by young people.

Jane Nambi, 21, who lost her parents to AIDS when she was 14, said: “Youth – particularly those infected and affected - must be involved in decision making about HIV and AIDS programmes and policies.”

Note to editors

The youth delegates are available for interview.

Plan works with more than 3,500,000 families each year throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America to promote children and young people’s rights.

Contact: Gary Walker, director of communications Jon Slater, Plan press officer
Tel: +52 5537911598    +44 7500066891   
Web: www.plan-international.org/news/journalists/