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korey chisholm [ Profil ] |
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UK: concern over young people's risky sex
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Jun 5th, 2009 - 09:21:00 |
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UK: concern over young people's risky
sex
Awareness of the dangers of HIV/AIDS is decreasing among young people at a
time when fewer are practicising safe sex, a survey has revealed.
Nearly 60% of 16- to 24-year-olds questioned thought they were not at risk
of contracting the infection after having unprotected sex and 8% believed
taking a contraceptive pill offered protection against infection.
Almost 14% thought the fact that they were not gay ensured they could not
contract HIV/AIDS while another 13% said they were either too young to be
affected or felt "perfectly healthy".
The newly released results have emereged from a survey commissioned in
spring of 2,550 young people on behalf of the Staying Alive Foundation
charity, which is supported by MTV UK and the Body Shop. The most notable
finding, that 75% of 16- to 24-year-olds are not using condoms, has already
been published.
These latest figures show that on average young people admit to having had
an average of 6.81 sexual partners, and to having had unprotected sex with
an average of 3.44 partners.
More than 35%, however, said they had been tested for HIV. Of those who had
not, 16% said they did not know where to go to get tested, five per cent
were too scared of the outcome and seven per cent were too embarrassed.
Broken down by region, youngsters in Leeds appear to be the most reckless
the number having unprotected sex there is 86%. In Manchester, around 70%
think they have "no chance" of contracting the virus.
More than 35% of those questioned could not recall ever having seen an
advertising campaign about HIV/AIDS. The findings echo concerns among
medical charities that many young people are unaware of the dangers.
The Department of Health last year estimated that 73,000 are living
with HIVin the UK, one third of whom did not know they were infected.
Knowledge
about safe sex practices also appears to be declining. In 2007, 79% of
people said they knew HIV could be passed on by sex between a man and woman
without a condom; in 2000, the figure was 12% higher.
Georgia Arnold, the official in charge of social responsibility at MTV,
said: "Young people do not remember the government campaigns of the 1980s
and generally aren't responding to the current safe sex campaigns. Without
that awareness young people are lulled into a false sense of security they
think the risks have gone away when in fact they are as real as ever."
She was disappointed that two £8,000 grants for work on HIV/AIDS awareness
offered by the organisation's charitable Staying Alive Foundation had not
been claimed in the UK this year. The lack of applications, she feared,
reflected lower awareness of the dangers and a mistaken belief that the
disease is cureable.
Other results from the survey show that more men nearly a quarter think
women run the most risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. Only 10% of women think the
same.
*Source:* The Guardian, 4 June 2009
Best regards,
Korey Anthony Chisholm |Caribbean Regional Focal Point | Global Youth
Coalition on HIV and AIDS (GYCA) | 749 Sixth Field Cummings Lodge |Greater
Georgetown, Demerara |Guyana, South America T:+1 592 623 8022 or 662 1441|
O:+1 592 225 1580| korey (at) youthaidscoalition.org | korey.chisholm (at) gmail.com
www.iAIDS.org | www.youthaidscoalition.org
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Korey Anthony Chisholm |UNAIDS Special Youth Fellow |Office of the Country
Coordinator |Guyana and Suriname Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
(UNAIDS) |Georgetown, Guyana| Cell +592 623 8022 or 662 1441| Work +592 225
1580|ChisholmK (at) unaids.org |www.unaids.org Uniting the world against AIDS
.....................................................................................................................................
Korey Anthony Chisholm | Partnerships and Communications Director |Board Of
Directors | The Newtwork of Guyanese Living with and Affected by HIV and
AIDS (G+) Incorporated | gpluspublic (at) gmail.com | gplusnetwork (at) gmail.com
Sent from Georgetown, Guyana
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