Youth at risk
As HIV prevalence is still increasing, programmes focusing on HIV prevention remain crucial. UNAIDS has emphasised the need for universal access to prevention in order to reach the Millennium Development Goal on HIV and AIDS – to halt and reverse the spread of the epidemic by 2015.
There is no doubt that universal access to HIV prevention for youth is needed. Young people (15-24 years old) account for half of all new HIV infections worldwide - more than 6,000 become infected with HIV every day. Over one third of all people living with HIV or AIDS are under the age of 25. Only two out of five young people in developing countries know how to protect themselves from getting infected with HIV.
Addressing contextual factors
Contextual factors increase the chances of young people getting infected with HIV. Young people are particularly vulnerable to HIV infection, because they lack access to sexual and reproductive health information, education and important (health) services. Gender inequalities and practices, like early marriage, sexual violence and the search by older men for younger ‘HIV-free’ partners, create added risks for young women. In certain countries in sub-Saharan Africa, young women are now two to six times more likely to be infected with HIV than young men. Social and cultural identities and roles (particularly around masculinity) expected of boys and young men often place both themselves and their partners at increased risk of HIV.
Collaboration & Partnerships
Although individual behaviour change is central to improving sexual health, efforts are also needed to address the broader determinants of sexual behaviour, particularly those that relate to the social context. The evidence from behavioural interventions is that no general approach to sexual-health promotion will work everywhere and no single-component intervention will work anywhere. Programmes that take the larger context into account when determining their strategy tend to be more effectively. Therefore a thorough analysis of the contextual factors very important. It is crucial to develop and implement a programme in close collaboration and partnership with other relevant organisations, stakeholders, community leaders and members.
“Successful HIV prevention is more than education, and more than a condom, a clean needle or any single commodity. Effective HIV prevention involves a thoughtful, planned combination of interventions and policies that work synergistically to reduce overall rates of transmission”
(Global HIV prevention Working Group, 2007).
